Dáil debates

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Other Questions

Flood Response Reports.

4:00 pm

Photo of Kathleen LynchKathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the local authorities that furnished the requested reports by the suggested date in view of circular letter MEM 01-09 seeking flood response information; the local authorities that failed to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2458/10]

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Written responses to circular letter MEM 01-09 have been received from 22 of the major local authorities since the flooding event in November 2009. The authorities which have not provided written reports are Donegal, Fingal, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, South Dublin and Waterford county councils, and Dublin and Waterford city councils. A number of those local authorities were not seriously affected by the flooding and in some cases detailed reports are delayed until flood waters fully recede so that the full impact can be ascertained.

In the case of some local authorities, the local services primarily involved in the response to the flooding have subsequently been engaged in responding to the severe weather event. My Department is following up with all local authorities, and where written responses are not yet available, oral reports have been received. Interim reports have also been received from the local authorities most affected by the flooding. I made approximately €16.5 million available to 19 local authorities in December to meet unexpected expenditure incurred in dealing with the immediate response to the flooding in their functional areas.

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. As I understand it, 11 or 12 local authorities have not responded to the Minister.

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I listed the local authorities that have not responded.

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I was trying to count them as the Minister read them out and I think they amount to 11 or 12.

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Deputy has counted them.

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I assume the Minister wrote to each local authority. It would be acceptable and understandable, given the workload faced by local authorities, not just with the flooding but taking into account the Christmas period and the snow and inclement weather that their priorities might have been to deal with the emergencies they faced rather than to write reports.

What will happen to the information? Where will it go and will it be brought to the attention of the national emergency committee in a particular format or en bloc? Will an independent assessment of the data be made?

I do not imply anything untoward of the local authorities but a certain level of performance indication would be derived from the information that has been sent to the Department. Will there be an assessment to ensure that the information is accurate and captures all local authority activity?

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Yes. I can assure the Deputy that that will happen. The reports have been circulated to the relevant sections of my Department for consideration and any action that may be required. The reports were also sent to the Department of Transport, which has responsibility at central government level for national and non-national roads and also to the Office of Public Works, which is the lead Government agency for the implementation of the national flood policy in the matter of flood risk and mitigation. It is important that when we consider all of the reports, the one Deputy Lynch would be most familiar with is the one from Cork, that we focus on the areas that proved to be vulnerable on that occasion. As the Deputy is aware, areas flooded that had never flooded previously. We have to take that into account for future emergency planning and write it into the equation. All of that is being done. We are carrying out a full assessment of what occurred during the floods. All of that information will be fed into the assessment so that we can learn valuable lessons from the experience.

Photo of Joanna TuffyJoanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Some local authorities were more impacted by the flooding in November than others. For that reason they would have incurred extra costs. They may have had to spend more money on staffing hours and the clean-up afterwards. For example, when I was in Cork recently I read in the Evening Echo of how the county manager of Cork County Council has raised concerns about the costs of the clean-up following the floods and the recent snow given that the council is stretched to the limit of its finances. I raised the matter previously that Cork County Council had to let go a lot of staff in the past year. Will the Minister provide extra funding for certain local authorities that are struggling because they have had extra responsibility this year?

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his supplementary comments. The emergency situation comes down to two single factors, one is the emergency plans themselves and the other is risk assessment. The latter determines the level and ultimately the quantity of the response. The reports being sent to the Minister are intended to capture information on both those matters and how the emergency responses were worked out. I assume that to a certain extent not everything was foreseen in the risk assessment. The Inniscarra dam was a case in point where 500 million metric tonnes of water were going through it in a single second.

As the Minister indicated, there is a particular difficulty in Cork where the western side of the city flooded as opposed to the traditional eastern end of the city which was prone to flooding during periods of inclement weather. What action will be taken ultimately? Will we see an adaptation to various emergency plans or to how risk assessment is carried out in future?

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the request for the information concerned. Will the Minister broaden the request to take into account all factors that might have contributed to the flooding that took place in November and early December? Notwithstanding the reliance on climate change issues, there should be more reliance on drainage issues, the need for which has been clearly identified over a number of years. I accept the Minister is aware of the situation himself, although the recent replies to some of my parliamentary questions would not seem to indicate that. The public is concerned and the European institutions are ready to provide backup funding provided that a careful and adequate assessment is carried out of the contributory causes of the flooding. Will the Minister confirm to the House that this will be done, and that the emphasis will be put on the prevention of any recurrence, which can be done with a little effort?

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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In reply to Deputy Tuffy, in December I made €16.488,257 million available to 16 city and county councils and three town councils to assist them with the unexpected expenditure involved in responding rapidly to the flooding in their areas.

Deputy Lynch inquired about risk assessment and how we will use the information. We must use the information to ensure that in those areas which have now been shown to be vulnerable, for example the quays in Cork, that we put in place proper flood protection. We have increased spending on that provision. It is the OPW which is examining the matter of risk assessment in detail.

In reply to Deputy Durkan, the preliminary estimate would indicate that the total cost of the damage could be approximately €100 million. Most of the expenditure is associated with repairs to national and non-national roads and bridges and quay walls in Cork and Limerick. Other areas of expenditure are connected to water supplies, housing and the general costs of the clean-up.

I understand that the Department of Finance will shortly decide on whether it is possible to submit an application for assistance under the European Union's solidarity fund. The threshold of overall expenditure before any assistance would be payable is high at more than €973 million. I am trying to estimate what will be the total cost. I understand that the insurance industry has estimated that the total cost could be approximately €250 million. I do not have the cost for agriculture or other areas. We are trying to quantify the expenditure. It is clear from all of those figures that this is something that can cause major damage and personal hardship. I am aware of that. When one considers the cost associated with flooding, this is why investment in prevention is such a good investment.