Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I thank the Leas Ceann-Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue tonight. It is raining cats and dogs and we had huge rainfall Sunday night of last week in many parts of the country, including in south Tipperary. Thurles town was badly affected as were Cahir, Cashel and Tipperary town. It was unprecedented rainfall. I must mention the lack of maintenance of our roads with the cuts to personnel. I have to single out Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the National Roads Association, NRA, before it. They developed fine motorways through Tipperary. We see TII regularly doing maintenance with road markings and hedge cutting. I am told by adjoining landowners it does not do any maintenance on the drainage. I am speaking about the drainage that is sometimes cut out or sometimes a road is high. The roads were cut through land and through rivers and streams. I pointed out at the time that in many cases a number of small culverts were put in place rather than one eye of a bridge. They are all getting blocked with debris from forestry and everything else. It is natural debris. There is damage being done to people's homes and properties. I know of part of a farm that was washed away by a torrent coming down from the Galtee Mountains in the parish of Ballylooby. We must have respect for land owners and property owners.

The cost of projects this year has gone spiralling upwards in the council. Its maintenance budget is exhausted much earlier than in any other year because of the increased cost. The cost of projects has massively increased because of the cost of fuel and oil-based products, including bitumen and tar. Tipperary County Council is in a perilous situation because it has exhausted most of its road and maintenance budget. Now it is faced with a bill of up to €500,000. I understand from the director of services, through my daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, that a letter will be arriving in the Department imminently from James Swords, the senior engineer, and Paul Farrell who is also an engineer. It will state this amount of money will be needed to repair the damage that has been done.

The big problem is a lack of maintenance and lack of accountability. The motorway was developed with compulsory purchase orders and we avail of it. A project cannot be built and then walked away from. We must go to the upper echelons of it and check the drainage and maintain it. It is not just the motorway. We have to have access in terms of fencing to prevent animals going on to it. It is a serious situation. The funding bill will be sent in. Unsuspecting motorists drive on the motorway with torrents of rain crossing it because of the lack of drainage. It is an extremely dangerous situation. Many people have been seriously injured and worse on the motorway. It is the same with the motorway to Limerick at Portlaoise.

We have spent money on the motorways but we must maintain the curtilage and the percolation and drainage areas around them. Above all we must protect life and limb. We must also protect the property of farmers, householders and farmyards. Above all we must protect households. The council staff and the general services supervisor went out. As I said here one day, one of them, Walter Doheny, suffered a minor heart attack while on duty at night. He has recovered. I spoke to him on Sunday and thanks be to God he is fine. Council workers go out to try to sort it out as do fire brigades. We should not be putting these people in this type of danger. We need proper maintenance and proper service of the projects to take place.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on these roads are funded from the council's own resources supplemented by State road grants. I know from the Deputy's contribution there was an intense rainfall event in County Tipperary over a short period of time. I am aware that the flooding affected properties over quite an area. Unfortunately these severe weather events are becoming more frequent and they highlight the need to focus on the measures needed to address climate change.

As regards the impact on regional and local roads, I can confirm that Tipperary County Council has made initial contact with the Department. It is understood, and I have picked up through Deputy McGrath who mentioned Councillor McGrath, that the council will be making a submission to the Department seeking funding to assist with repair works caused by the severe weather event.

In relation to funding options for repair works, it is established practice that local authorities are advised by the Department that a contingency provision should be reserved from the overall resources available to each local authority for regional and local roads so as to deal with damage caused by severe weather conditions. As regards the Department's grants, local authorities may carry out repairs from the regional and local road grants available to them and from their own resources. In this context it is open to each council to determine and reprioritise its work programme following severe weather events. Where this is not feasible, such as in this case as I gather from Deputy McGrath, the Department always tries to work with local authorities to facilitate the management of repair works in these situations.

Once a submission is received from Tipperary County Council which identifies the works required together with an estimate of the cost, it will be reviewed by Department officials and the Department will liaise further with Tipperary County Council on the necessary repair works and the timing of the works. In the event that national roads were affected in the manner described by the Deputy, Transport Infrastructure Ireland has stated that it is necessary to carry out a survey and hydrological assessment of the culverts and drains in the affected area to understand the cause behind the flooding and to quantify the details and costs of any works to be completed.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It is late at night and we are all tired but this is balderdash. TII did the hydrological studies and everything else and it did not put in big enough culverts. We argued, as did farmers who knew the area and its topography, but it did not listen. Now we have a problem because it will not do maintenance. It cannot just develop a project. People cannot just build a house and forget to clean the chutes. We have this folly every time we ask a question about flooding. We hear about climate change. It just does not cut it for me. We are not climate change deniers but rivers are not cleaned and neither are gullies or streams. What happens? Every bit of dirt that runs off of this building ends up in a river, as is the case with every other building, field and roadway. I do not say forget about climate change but we need to clean the river basins and above all maintain the motorways. It makes me very angry to listen to people blame climate change. We can get downpours of rain but if the gullies and culverts are cleaned and maintained, they will take 90% of it. There might be a 10% to overflow. We see farmyards flooded because of a torrent of rain. The same places were flooded 20 years ago during the development of the motorway, or before it was developed. There are issues.

TII, which was the NRA, is not maintaining or looking after the curtilage of the projects. In the case of ordinary roads the county council workers are not on the ground and we all know this. Maintenance is not being done. The hard-pressed taxpayers and ratepayers are being discommoded, with their businesses and homes destroyed. Numerous houses and businesses in Thurles were flooded. They will not get insurance because it is a recurring event.

It is mainly because of blocked gullies and inverts. That is basic maintenance and it is not being done.

The Minister of State said to go back to their existing budget. They cannot, on 1 November, go back. The budget is expended in normal years but this year, especially because of the increased costs of materials, the budget is completely expended. They need a dig-out from the Department.

Above all, we need to revisit this and do maintenance, not fire brigade work, afterwards.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy's concerns. I am aware that the Deputy raised the issue about the damage to property with the Taoiseach earlier today.

The Deputy says he is not denying climate change but he also cannot deny the severity and the strength of weather events has completely changed over the past number of years. They have become much more frequent and much more severe. It is not a case of a simple solution like draining drains.

I will convey the points made to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and to the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and draw the Minister's attention to the letter that has been submitted from Tipperary County Council to his Department.

As I said, I will copy the Minister with the Deputy's remarks this evening.