Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Buckley. I acknowledge what his constituents are going through today. He is doing his job on behalf of his constituents here. I also spoke to Deputies O'Connor and Padraig O'Sullivan, Billy Kelleher MEP and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, about various aspects of this matter. I thank all the public representatives for the information they are getting. I will try to give as much information as I have here, but, as the Deputy has acknowledged he has placed questions on the record and it is important to get answers to every one of them.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is designated as lead Department for co-ordinating the response at national level to severe weather and flooding. The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, NDFEM, within the Department is tasked with co-ordinating the response to these emergencies working closely with Met Éireann, local authorities, who are the lead agency for the response to severe weather, Departments and other agencies following the procedures developed over the years and set out in the Strategic Emergency Management - National Framework.

Storm Babet was named by the UK Met Office on Monday, 16 October. The NDFEM has been liaising with Met Éireann which is monitoring the heavy rain associated with Storm Babet that has affected the south of the country. A status orange rainfall warning was issued for Cork, Kerry and Waterford on Monday, 16 October for spells of heavy rain likely to bring localised flooding, difficult driving conditions and possible wave overtopping at high tide with an expected onset of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, 17 October until 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 18 October.

In preparation for the arrival of heavy rain, the NDFEM crisis management team issued a severe weather notice to all local authority severe weather assessment teams and principal response agencies on Tuesday, 17 October. A European Flood Awareness System flash-flood notification, issued to local authorities on Monday, 16 October, also highlighted the possibility of significant flooding in the south west. On foot of those warnings, local authorities, activated their crisis management teams, and local co-ordination groups and flood defences were put in place.

Heavy and persistent rain over southern counties on Tuesday and Wednesday combined with already saturated soils, extremely high river levels and high tides caused rivers to break their banks resulting in significant flood events particularly around east Cork, with Deputy Buckley's constituency at the centre of it. The flooding led to widespread rolling road closures that severely disrupted the road networks in County Cork, which hampered afternoon and evening commutes on Wednesday.

Cork City Council is aware of flooded properties, particularly in the areas of Blackpool and Glanmire, where council workers worked to defend properties with sandbags and pumping operations. Cork County Council is aware of the flooding of properties in Youghal, Whitegate, Rathcormac, Glandore, Ringaskiddy Carrigaline, Raffeen, Halfway and Castletownbere. In Midleton, the Owenacurra river rose at an unprecedented rate and broke its banks at two locations causing significant flood damage to the town with more than 100 properties flooded. We all saw the flood waters on television and how frightening they were at a depth of approximately 1 m.

A co-ordination centre was established at Midleton fire station to house the interagency team that co-ordinated the local response and evacuation of people trapped by the extreme floodwaters. People displaced by the floodwaters were given shelter at a local hotel and temporary rest centres in Midleton. Much of Midleton experienced power outages during the afternoon and evening on Wednesday and ESB crews worked overnight to restore power to those areas. A section to the rear of Midleton Community Hospital was flooded and some patients were evacuated to Heather House at the Mercy Hospital in Cork city. Thankfully, floodwaters have now receded and local authority workers have mobilised to clear debris from affected roads and premises.

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