Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed to hear the Minister say today that there is no clear compensation package being considered by the Government for the businesses and properties that have been destroyed in west Cork. Humanitarian aid through the Red Cross is nowhere near enough. It will not even cover 20% of those people who are affected. Has the Minister any idea of the pressure these people are under? Whether they are in Rathbarry, Rosscarbery, Connonagh, Leap, Skibbereen, Bantry or Bandon, people face tens of thousands of euro in damage due to others neglecting their surroundings. No one cleans overfilled rivers. The rivers are full of muck, silt or whatever polished word people want to call it. The rivers are full of it. I ask the Minister to come down to west Cork and I will show him first hand what is in the river at Connonagh. It is full of silt and branches that block drains and gullies, which then results in people's homes being flooding. There is no funding anymore for council staff to clean drains and watercourses. There is also no one to cut back the roadside verges, biggest scourge in rural Ireland, which leads to blockages and forces floodwater onto roads and into towns and villages. It was pointed out to me that if a Third World country was affected by flooding the Irish Government would send aid out immediately, and rightly so. The simple question is, why not send aid to west Cork? There is little point in the Taoiseach and Ministers coming to west Cork to sympathise with the people if they do not compensate them. These people feel codded. They feel that no one cares. I ask the Minister again today whether there is a clear compensation package for the people who were affected by floods in west Cork. "Yes" or "No".

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