John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have concerns about the duplication and complication of existing legislation that the Bill may cause. Extreme weather conditions are now a norm.

In the past 12 months alone, between rain, wind and snow, we have had three extreme red alert warnings. There were some fatalities as a result of Storm Ophelia. There was none, to my knowledge, as a result of Storm Emma, although there might have been one or two very serious accidents. The low fatality rate was due to the considerable efforts made and precautions taken by employers and employees who did not take a chance on going to work. The consequences of ignoring a red alert warning are very serious. I had the experience of working in the United Kingdom in two years in which storms hit, 1987 and 1989. The fatalities were numerous because people did not pay heed to the warnings given. In the first instance, there was no warning. In the second, it was largely ignored. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 makes it mandatory for employers to ensure the safety of their workers. We should not do anything to interfere with it.

The road that links the town in which I live, Ballyheigue, to Tralee, the capital town, where the vast majority of the population work, has been flooded four times in the past 12 months, for one week at a time. The most recent event was last Monday. Everybody trying to get in and out of the town on the only major artery has to take a 30-minute diversion, which is totally unacceptable. It has the consequence of not allowing the emergency services to get to the town, if need be. The road is on a flood plain. In my time living in the town there has been a flood once every two years, or perhaps once per year, for a day or two at most, after which the flood waters recede. In recent times, however, the floods have lasted for a week and their depth and size are greater. As the only option is to close the road, one can imagine the difficulty it poses. I am taking the opportunity to ask the Minister of State to examine this matter. There are sluice gates at Arkeragh Lough that are not functioning. They should be manned and operated to control the flow of water.

That leads to the question of whether we need people working in extreme weather conditions. In some cases, we do. The instance to which I refer is a case in point. If there was somebody operating the sluice gates and controlling the level of water, we would not have the flooding we experience today, which is to last into the weekend. I ask the Minister of State to take this into consideration. I will be raising the matter with the OPW and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to find a solution. We need to be cognisant that in red alert weather conditions we need vital public service workers manning the fort to keep everybody safe and systems operating.

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