Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I reluctantly say that the Minister of State's response is disappointing. I realise he is stepping in on behalf of the Minister but I asked a specific set of questions. What resources will be made available? What is the extent of the damage that has been communicated to the his Department? We need answers to them. Perhaps the full moon on the night explains some of the bewilderment on the part of senior management. There was fault in respect of the reaction. No meeting was convened urgently because they did not believe anything would happen. In the report of the meeting, the manager blamed the Department for the lack of warning. Staff could not have reacted because they say that they did not know. I live in the Claddagh in Galway and we are surrounded by water. Anybody could see that the water was extraordinarily high. The water was monitored up to 4.10 p.m., which was the last time the level was recorded. I have a file on Leenane but I do not have the time to outline the damage to hotels, private houses, the craft shop and the sea wall. I pay tribute to the OPW whose engineers have inspected the damage. What resources will be provided and when will they be provided?

There is an AquaDam in the Spanish Arch in Galway but it was not fully inflated on the night. Questions have to be asked about the cost of that and the Minister of State should check it. The AquaDam is punctured. It is like a bicycle tube that has been mended using a repair kit. It has been bandaged numerous times. These are serious questions. It cannot be inflated to its full height because of all the problems with it. I do not wish to find fault but, since I live in Galway, I want to know practically how we can avoid this again. There is a responsibility on us locally to a certain extent but the major responsibility lies with the local authority and the Government. What will happen in this flood risk area, particularly for businesses? My office, for example, is next door to a dentist's surgery and her livelihood has been put in jeopardy. There is a carpet shop nearby and there are many dentists with seriously expensive equipment located on the docks. They have no insurance.

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