Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said the Minister of State is really getting the tour of it. Funnily enough I know Lismore, Tallow, Ballynaraha out into Curraglass and on into Conna. My wife is actually a Tallow woman. The Minister of State is really getting the in-depth tour of it and I thank him for being here this evening.

I am raising the 18 October flooding in Midleton and the surrounding areas. Only last weekend a video was streamed on social media - I think it was Facebook - of a family I know. They were really terrified because the river was rising again. The family were just after finishing painting the house after the recent flooding in October. I will not use the language that they used in fear that it was going to be flooded again. I will give credit as I always do. I raised this directly with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, on 19 December because there was debris, trees and other stuff in there. They were down there and they did take it out. There is a flood plain across the road from that place at Moore's Bridge. I believe the height for the overflow of that could be reduced allowing the flood plain to do its job alleviating all that flooding.

We have moved on from 18 October but given the fear last week, on Sunday, 21 January a local newspaper headline read, "Petition urges start to flood relief measures in east Cork". There are over 9,500 signatures on this petition already. The petition is not designed to batter anybody. The newspaper reported:

According to the petition, which has been initiated by the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group, the community in Midleton and surrounding villages [this is where the Minister of State gets the tour] of Dungourney, Castlemartyr, Carrigtwohill, Killeagh, Mogeely, Ladysbridge, and Whitegate in East Cork could not wait any longer for action to put in place interim flood relief measures.

Chairperson of the group, Mona Stromsoe, said... “If this flood happened at night it is almost certain there would have been loss of life. There are several stories of people being rescued from homes and rushing water on the street,” she said. “This constitutes a national emergency, underscoring the imperative for immediate interim measures to safeguard lives in our community.”

That threat to life during the 18 October flood was real and there have been some near fatalities. When the 2015 floods hit, we were told it was a once-in-100-years event. Just eight years later we were hit by a flood which was worse than that. The flood that hit us in October came so fast that it was upon us in minutes with flood water rising in some cases up to 6 feet. I am well aware of the CFRAM study. I am well aware that it is unprecedented. I want to put on the record that it is possible to have five once-in-100-years events in one day. I want to put that on the record because people think it will happen only once in 100 years.

Given the fear of people of east Cork and surrounding areas, they are looking for guarantees and for guidance. I met the chief executive of the municipal district over Christmas. There is not a plan in place if we have such flooding again. I asked who would co-ordinate it. It was left up to volunteers the last time. The emergency services and the Civil Defence were amazing. However, the majority of it was down to volunteers who co-ordinated and everything. Our fear is that we may get another once-in-100-years event between now and March; we just do not know. People want to get some clarity from the Government or a commitment to putting in interim measures in the area. Yes, there will be problems to alleviate it, but we need some protection so that at least people will not have two hours to get out of the house. We need something that is more positive and safer. I ask the Minister of State to give me some clarity on that.

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