Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the response. In a way, we in Glanmire are lucky in that the schemes have commenced. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for my colleagues in east Cork who are still waiting on the Midleton scheme. That said, as the Minister of State acknowledged in her response, her constituency was impacted. I know she will take what she has experienced over the past week back to the Ministers concerned. I again stress the urgency of the situation. Businesses and livelihoods have been lost. Family homes have been destroyed. We need to have an open debate here on insurance. Mallow was protected. Fermoy had a flood scheme that protected it, as did Douglas. Many of the houses and businesses in these areas still struggle to get insurance against flooding. That is another issue the Minister of State needs to take back to Cabinet and focus on in the time ahead.

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