Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many people have raised the issues regarding the humanitarian assistance scheme, including the lack of consistency, the understanding that certain things would be covered that were not covered and the bureaucratic nightmare it has been for many people. I say that while acknowledging the huge work done by the staff in circumstances that are all far from perfect. As the Minister said, it is a matter of getting the extreme weather event assistance scheme up and running and fit for purpose. We are aware of issues that have arisen following previous weather events. An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach is well aware of the issues on the Cooley Peninsula following the huge flooding there and how long it took to put a scheme in place for farmers. I was over and back at that time with the then Minister, Deputy McConalogue. It is clear that we need to have something on the shelf that can be taken down when needed and would include an element of flexibility, which is absolutely necessary. There is a huge body of work that needs to be done to ensure we have robustness and resilience in real terms.

During Questions to the Taoiseach, we discussed the National Emergency Co-ordination Group and the whole idea that there needs to be a review of how it dealt with certain circumstances and what can be improved in that regard. Unfortunately, it will take quite a while to get a follow-up from the Taoiseach as he has reduced the group by half. We have huge infrastructural deficits in Irish Water that will not be sorted through water charges. Such charges would be utterly unacceptable. We know the issues in regard to the ESB, whether we are talking about forestry or just those bits of the grid that need to be updated. Regarding the Irish Water issue, my constituency was not hit as hard as many others but there were people in places like Hackballscross who were without water for longer because there is a specific issue with that particular infrastructure. I have requested a meeting with Irish Water, which I hope to have soon, to deal with many of the problems, including brown water and the wastewater issues that exist right across Dundalk.

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