Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, for being here.

Last Friday morning, Belmullet and Erris were hit particularly hard by Storm Callum, which caused considerable damage in Belmullet town. In particular, the sea wall in the town was breached and the Mullet peninsula was cut off from emergency services for a time, although it was quickly repaired. The staff of Mayo County Council and local people did a fantastic job to ensure far greater damage was averted. If the Minister of State wants to see the extent of the damage, Senator Keith Swanick shared some stunning footage on Twitter which will give an example of how bad it was.

This has shown there is a need for far greater flood defences in Belmullet. We are not talking about high walls, because this is a very scenic area, but greater investment in strengthening the defences that are in place. The defences have, in many cases, been in place for 40 or 50 years and have taken a battering over that time. There is also a need for greater investment in erosion prevention in the Erris area. Mayo County Council does not have the matching funding necessary to invest in erosion prevention. This issue needs to be faced up to. The changes in places like Ceathrú Thaidhg, Gaoth Sáile and Ceann Dhumha Thuama on the Atlantic coast show the impact erosion is having, not just on Erris, but on Achill and right up the Atlantic coast. Greater resources need to be invested in erosion prevention to equip us to better fight storms.

The Minister of State has brought great energy to his brief since taking up the position and has advanced many projects. We need far greater attention paid to erosion defence and defence of our coastal towns which are at the cusp of any storm, particularly as we look into what may a difficult winter ahead.

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