James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the information he has provided. It is interesting to see the level of urgency that is being shown by the OPW around the scheme. I know that the Minister of State, having seen the damage, will do his best to try to push the scheme on. My colleague, Deputy Stanton, will go into this in further detail in the next question. My question pertains to the senior Minister and relates to funding. I would like to hear from the Minister, if it is appropriate, about the additional moneys that will have to be given to the Department of Transport and the allocations that will have to be made to Cork County Council through local government. Money has to come from somewhere to pay for these damages, in particular to road infrastructure. The damage that has been done is absolutely incredible. Bridges were knocked down and washed away. Roads have collapsed. Millions of euro in damage has been done to public infrastructure which pertains to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan and Reform. Will the Minister give the local Deputies in the area any reassurances about what can be done by his Department?

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