Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Business owners in Midleton are meeting this morning to try to plan for the future. Last week one month's worth of rain fell in the town in the space of 24 hours, causing utter devastation. I welcome that the Government has moved quickly to put in place an enhanced scheme for businesses, with up to €100,000 in support now available. Work needs to be done to ensure these funds can be drawn down quickly and that red tape is eliminated. I am concerned about the relatively low level of support available for homeowners, many of whom have lost everything in these floods. Residents in Beechwood Drive told the Irish Examinerthey feel abandoned. They do not know how they can rebuild and move on from this disaster, when they do not have insurance cover or access to State support. Yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced an additional €3 million in support for homeowners, but it is doubtful whether this will be enough to meet the huge need that exists following this disaster. Many homeowners in counties Cork and Waterford are utterly confused about the qualifying criteria. They have received no information about how they can apply for support or what they are entitled to. The grim reality of climate change is that the number of extreme weather events is going to increase. We are completely unprepared for that inevitability. The people of Midleton have been waiting almost a decade for a flood defence scheme. It could be another decade before it is in place. The scheme has not even gone to planning yet. There are other things the Government could be doing. Natural flood defences can be installed in tandem with necessary engineering solutions. Unfortunately, because of shortsighted decision-making in recent decades, rivers have been stripped of their natural defences. Planning has been granted for building on floodplains. Ditches, culverts, hedgerows and tree cover have been removed, peat bogs have been drained and poorly planned concrete flood defences have been installed. All of these simply push flooding downstream at top speed. Restoring these natural flood defences, which help the land store water and slow the course of rivers upstream, is absolutely essential if we want to minimise the risk of flood damage.

I have three questions for the Taoiseach. Can the Government guarantee that the enhanced scheme for businesses and homeowners in flood impacted areas will be easily accessible and adequately funded? What is the realistic timeline for the completion of flood defence works in Midleton? Does the Taoiseach think it is time to come up with a national land use plan? Will the Government, in doing that, incentivise landowners, and how does it plan to do so? Does it recognise the need to do that as opposed to just putting in place piecemeal, massive, concrete flood infrastructure without an overall plan for the flow of water?

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