Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with all the issues raised. If I leave anybody out, I will come back to them with a written response or meet them personally. My heart goes out to the people of Donegal. On the Tuesday morning of the flooding, the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, and I postponed our engagements and headed to Donegal to see first hand the effects of the floods. The three days and two nights I spent in Donegal were all too familiar to me as somebody who has experienced flooding over several years. I have seen the suffering all too many times.

We would all love for the Government to do an awful lot more. However, how to deal with the deluge of rain which came to Donegal at that particular time would be hard for any Government. This is not about politics but about people.

By the end of this year, the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, will be published. The people waiting for this can be assured this is under way.

My Department has met Donegal County Council on two occasions and there was another meeting yesterday. It is difficult to solve the problems. It is not just about building walls or digging canals, but putting infrastructure in place so if this happens again it can cope with such a deluge of rain. The gullies and culverts will be prepared to take it so people will not have to suffer. Then we must examine what are called minor works schemes, such as minor works in terms of walls, and major schemes in terms of what emerges from CFRAM. Whatever needs to be done by my Department will be done for the people of Donegal.

My Department has been invited to meet the elected members in Donegal on 10 October. I have spoken to many of those members and I have given an assurance that I will be there that night. However, I wish to give a commitment when I go there that a programme of works will be started and completed to ensure, to the best of my and the Department's ability, that this devastation does not happen again.

A number of queries were put to me about insurance. Since I returned from Donegal I, along with the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy D'Arcy, have spoken to Insurance Ireland. We put forward the same questions the Deputy raised. We are waiting for a response to them.

Members of Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have spoken a great deal about budgets. Not one Member from either party has met with me about budgetary matters, what is required or what those parties wish to put forward on behalf of the people they represent. I have done that. People say nothing has happened. I am in this job for almost four months. In those four months, I have had machines operating on the lower end of the Shannon, something people have told me for the past 30 or 40 years could never happen. It is not one machine but a number of machines. We are not doing one job, but seven jobs. We also have machines operating on the outskirts of Athlone on a major scheme. People might say that is because it is in my constituency. This scheme was prioritised and had to happen for the people of Athlone.

With regard to the upper Shannon, yesterday I spoke to people in the Office of Public Works about Jamestown and the issues I had examined when I visited. I am hoping to have a meeting in the near future with the stakeholders there, Waterways Ireland, to see if we can fast-track help in that regard. Many people talk about channel cleaning. I hope to announce a pilot scheme for two counties in the next week to ten days. I will give the reason for picking two. There is what I call the red tape scenario, but let us not look at it from that point of view. Let us look at it from the point of view of the IFA, the local authorities and the National Parks and Wildlife Service so we can overcome the issues that face the local authorities. I will not be found wanting with regard to funding to support such programmes. I have two counties in mind and I will announce them in the next ten days.

Questions were raised about climate change. The Government must consider climate change in a more serious manner. I am not fully up to date with the issue of climate change but I know from what happened in Donegal and in other parts of the country that climate change is a huge problem and we must deal with it.

With regard to Cork, I have visited Cork, Kerry and almost all of the places that are subject to flooding. Recently, we announced a major scheme for the people of Clonakilty. On the visit I made I saw at first hand the consequences those people face. The fact that we can announce the scheme now shows the proactive work of the Government. Cork has probably the biggest scheme the State will ever undertake. I have heard the debate among politicians across this House, I have read newspaper articles and I have heard what people say. I have also heard what the people of Cork had to say when I visited their shops and met them on the street. They said: "Minister, will you get on with building the walls? Will you protect us? We cannot wait for a redesign or a barrage to be built." I am not saying that we will not build it. However, I am referring to the submissions I have received in the Department. I look at the submissions, I have met the people from Save Cork City and I have met the people on the ground. I also acknowledge the good work of the OPW. Every scheme it has built to date has been trialled and tested and has worked.

Seán Hogan is here for the debate. As a result of Cork and the meeting the co-ordination group held, it was signalled across every Department by him as chairman that whatever was required for Donegal was to be forthcoming. That will remain the case as long as we are helping the people of Donegal. I can give that assurance.

There are questions about how to respond to flooding. I issued a paper to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, a few days ago on what I believe is necessary in the future when something such as this happens. One agency within a single Department should deal with it. Some Members were critical tonight of Met Éireann. Have those critics gone to visit Met Éireann, seen what the people there are doing and asked them what they intend to do in the future? Met Éireann is doing the best it can with what is available to it. We have a new flood project with Met Éireann - I am afraid I cannot pronounce its name - to help with future flooding in terms of helping to forecast what might happen. I also consulted with my Department and different bodies on producing an app so that we might be able to help people. Everybody has a smart phone now. If one knew what amount of rain was falling, what gates were open on the Shannon and the amount of water going through Ardnacrusha or Parteen Weir, it could be a major help for a farmer or an ordinary home dweller who can look at this all day, every day.

There are other issues I am examining aside from what is in this document relating to the home protection scheme. We are all aware of that. Some 69 people have shown expressions of interest in that. It is another major step by the Government that people do not give it credit for. There are also the criteria for the minor works scheme and the rolling out of more schemes to help people in areas throughout the country. Let nobody say that nothing is happening under my watch. That might have been the case under other people's watches, but while I am the Minister for as long as the people leave me here or for as long as this Government lasts, I can assure people that I will leave no stone unturned until I have a plan in place, so that if whoever comes after me follows that plan they will not have people roaring and giving out that nothing is being done. I assure Members that when they get a chance to sit where I am they will find it is not as easy as putting a digger in the ground or removing a few stones. There are defined rules, guidelines and regulations. We must work with the people.

The ESB, Waterways Ireland, the local authorities, the OPW, Seán Hogan's people, the IFA, the IFI and in particular the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which is condemned the most, have all been tremendous to me in my job since the day I took office. All Ministers, ranging from the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, have been forthcoming in meeting what I require. My line Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Taoiseach have been 100% behind what I am trying to do.

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