Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I am glad he provided that to me because I asked the director of services for it last week, but I think he said he was going to play golf or something on Thursday. He did not manage to get it to me by this Thursday. The problem is that much of what we have discussed was set down in a report in 2018 and 2019. I went back over that report and six years later the problem has escalated to crisis management. The Minister of State talks about 70 m or 80 m, but I am taking about 100 km. If we have people in jobs who cannot do them then they should not be in them. That is the bottom line. People's homes are now at risk. We are talking about closing roads. It has gone from what could have been manageable to destructive chaos and all for want of action. How many reports do we have to do? Why are we spending money on reports and not taking the action? I just do not get it. We are talking and talking, but there is no delivery.

I am here because the local elections are coming up on 7 June and when I sit in on our local council meeting every councillor in every party is jumping up and down saying they want support from their TDs in Dáil Éireann. Where are they? I am here as the only Independent TD in Wexford raising coastal erosion for the community and I do not see any of the party TDs rowing in behind me to support the councillors. If they did it all the time for the five years we might have got the money, but because we are six weeks out from an election they do not even support the mention of it. They are making videos and doing everything, but they will not come in and ask for the money, which is the only thing that is going to solve it.

See this speech in context