Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to be able to stand here with my constituency colleagues and speak to Deputy O'Donnell, as a Minister of State, who has been down to Lough Funshinagh and seen it with his own eyes because one really has to see it to believe it.

He will be well aware of the trauma of older people, in particular, in that community, looking at their life's work totally ruined before their eyes and the fear for young families, in particular, young couples who have big mortgages, afraid to let their children out the gate for fear in some cases that they would drown such are the water levels outside their homes.

I am really glad that the Minister of State visited and he saw it with his own eyes but we do need immediate action. This is going on since 2016. It has been years, on and off. The flooding now is at record levels. People out there are really worried. We have an SAC that is destroyed. Everything in it is dead. It is absolutely ruined. We need immediate and urgent intervention to save the homes that can be saved. For some, it is too late but for the rest and for the community that remain there, we need to see that urgent intervention.

We will work with the Minister of State. We will support whatever is forthcoming to complete that overflow as the emergency action and then, in parallel, for the permanent solution that is there to be fast-tracked as well. That is absolutely essential.

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