Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have no problem getting more information on this for the Deputy and sitting down with her at a later date. She has raised questions that I will put to GCC as well. The national co-ordinating group assesses the fallout from all these events and makes changes accordingly. However, warnings are given on a regular basis and the OPW, Met Éireann and the Department are involved in that. They are issued through the media and every local authority knows what it has to do when it is notified.

The Deputy mentioned the full moon in a comical way but I will not because the moon affects tides. High tides, high winds and the sea surge at the same time caused this flooding. It could not have been predicted precisely but we have mechanisms in place to react. The Deputy raised issues about this and I will have them checked out as well. There are various schemes in place for the clean-up following such an event. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection ensured her Department's scheme was up and running straightaway. This will provide assistance to households affected by Storm Eleanor. A number of households have been assisted. There are different stages to the scheme relating to initial damage and structural damage to the house. The Irish Red Cross is administering a humanitarian flooding scheme on behalf of the Government to assist small businesses. Its aim is to get businesses back up and running but it does not deal with loss of goodwill and earnings. That scheme is available to businesses in the Galway region as well.

Local authorities are told by the Department that there is no restriction on cost in dealing with the fallout from a disaster such as this. They react accordingly in the days after during the clean-up and in addressing prevention measures for the future. Capital works that will have to be carried out in Galway fall to the OPW. I have a list of allocations under various schemes but I do not have time to outline them.

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