Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are providing the funding for flood relief schemes. When the Deputy says it is not good enough, that is the reality of delay. People object, not just in the planning process but in the courts. Deputy Mick Barry was a classic example of it there. He came in advocating for flood relief protection schemes, he himself having supported alternatives and having gone against the OPW schemes as he still is. I have no problem with a barrier on the Lee. We need a flood relief scheme in Cork city, given its history. It is built on a marsh. It needs it. I am not against people making submissions and so on, but there is an urgency for householders and businesses - I remember being in Bandon seven or eight years ago as leader of the Opposition, twice going through flooded businesses. They said to me that if it happened a third time they were out of there. It is existential for some individuals and we just need balance and perspective in getting these things through.

See this speech in context