Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his good work of recent days in travelling to places throughout the country, such as County Galway, to see the devastation that has befallen people in those areas. He has a sense of the despair and despondency there. Perhaps this sense of what has occurred and of the tragedy that has befallen many people has not dawned on some of his colleagues, but he is aware of what has occurred. From speaking to people who met him when he travelled around County Galway, his responses were impressive.

These are unprecedented times and we must honestly acknowledge that, irrespective of what provisions were in place, nothing could have handled the climactic havoc wreaked upon the country during the past week. I spoke to neighbours of mine who are in their mid-80s and early 90s and they have never seen anything like this flooding or devastation. They remarked that flooded areas in their localities never flooded previously. The square in Ballinasloe flooded for the first time and flooding threatened the church.

It is important to stress that the crisis is far from over. This morning in the Chamber there was a sense that we were examining the aftermath and that we needed to determine how to address such matters in future. As we speak, there are six feet of water in the church in Kiltartan in Gort and a Niagara-type waterfall is flowing across the N18 north of Gort town. The tragedy seems to be moving from one location to another.

We must sincerely thank our local authorities for the way in which they have reacted. They have been assisted by the emergency services, the Army and even local radio. I am sure Senator Buttimer and the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, will acknowledge the true value of the contribution made by local radio to helping during this crisis. For example, Galway Bay FM has been giving updates 24 hours a day, sometimes every 15 minutes and every 30 minutes at other times. A member of the public rang me to say that he had telephoned the station with a particular issue and was answered by its chief broadcaster. This is how seriously our local radio station is taking people's concerns. It is public service broadcasting at its best.

The Minister of State mentioned the union members who undertook not to go on strike in affected areas. Members of the public service are often vilified for not having a sense of solidarity with the rest of the country, but I do not share this opinion. That they take their role as public servants seriously was shown. In recent days, it was their role to serve people upon whom such tragedy was visited.

I was heartened by something referred to by the Taoiseach during his speech on the "Six One" news yesterday, namely, the sense of community and solidarity. The spirit of the meitheal broke out in urban and rural locations. People dropped whatever they were doing and went to the assistance of people in their areas whose properties were being damaged. People travelled up and down roads with sand bags and farmers offered lifts across floods to schoolchildren. Parents could not reach a school in County Galway to collect their children, so a number of farmers in the area drove their tractors and trailers across the flood to get the children home. This solidarity and sense of community in the face of adversity is heartening.

We face two key issues. First, how do we react this minute to the ongoing crisis? Only a few minutes ago, I spoke to a friend in Athlone. Water levels at the Athlone lough on the Shannon are 50 cm above the highest level recorded. Athlone, south County Galway and other parts of the country are still suffering from this terrible climactic tragedy. We must consider how to address people's needs and concerns over the coming days.

Second, we will not be able to prevent such events from recurring but we must examine how to put measures in place that, in the long term, will be able to cope more comprehensively and cohesively with them. This is a once in a century event but, if we are to believe climatologists and others who have spoken in the media in recent days, it will become a once every ten years, 15 years or 20 years event. We must acknowledge the fact that we will face this challenge more often than we used to.

Regarding the reaction to the crisis, people's despair is unprecedented. I have spoken to couples who have worked all their lives to build and furnish their homes to put in place environments in which they can nurture and care for their children. They are returning to their homes. Last night, a woman who was distraught by the sight of what she would need to cope with rang me. Three or four weeks ahead of Christmas, her home had been destroyed. Christmas will be a bleak time for these people.

The Minister of State referred to business people who were unable to secure flood insurance because the areas in which they operate flooded previously. At the weekend, a businessman in Clonmel appeared on television and told of how, after claiming on his insurance previously, his premium went from €4,000 per annum to €32,000 per annum. The second premium did not cover flooding because the insurance company refused to insure him against that eventuality.

The Government needs to respond in a more caring and empathetic fashion than it has been doing in recent days. The €10 million was signalled as an initial compensation fund. That such a sum was the most that had been committed early on did not give people the hope they needed. It did not give them the sense of community and solidarity that they should feel with the Government in addressing such a crisis.

One businessman rang me on Sunday night and I spoke about him earlier today in the Seanad. He spoke of his feeling of despair and fear, a word he used repeatedly. He had been operating in Gort but had no insurance because his premises had flooded previously. He had had all of his stock, including extra stock for Christmas, destroyed and had no mechanism to access social welfare payments because he was self-employed. He has had to lay-off all of his staff. He stated he was afraid to look into the eyes of his children at the breakfast table in the morning in case they would see the fear and despair in his eyes. He is telling them that everything will be okay but in his heart of hearts he does not believe this. What he needed to hear yesterday evening from the Taoiseach was that he and thousands like him would be supported in their hour of need.

For me, initially making a commitment to provide €10 million did not instil confidence. People needed to hear, for example, the commitment the Taoiseach had made in June in addressing the banking crisis when he stated he would write whatever cheque was needed to address that crisis. A similar commitment should have been made by him in the past few days to offer such comprehensive and unlimited support to those who have been so badly affected. Nobody is suggesting we should open up a gravy train onto which everybody could hop, but there are people who need support and compensation and who simply will not be able to access it. They needed to have a sense of hope instilled in them as we approach Christmas but that was not evident. Therefore, I urge the Government, as I did this morning, to indicate that there is something available over and above the €10 million announced. The National Pension Reserve Fund is available. The phrase often used was, "It is money for a rainy day". For many, that rainy day has arrived. If we could hand out €7 billion earlier in the year to the banking system, although one can argue whether it was necessary to do so, and can have a laudable aspiration to hand over €750 million in overseas development aid, surely €10 million is a paltry sum in comparison.

I am also concerned that the new scheme, as unveiled by the Government, does not seem to cover businesses. It seems to cover private households only. We need a more comprehensive, caring and empathetic response from the Government.

We need to look at how we should address these problems in the future. For example, I looked this morning for references to flooding on the Dunkellin river which drains most of south Galway and the earliest I could find in Dáil records was in 1972. Therefore, this is not an issue that has crept up on us; it has been evident for almost 40 years. There are many reports gathering dust that need to be dusted down and acted upon. We need an early warning system, co-operation between climatologists and hydrologists in order that situations such as those involving the ESB on the River Shannon and in Cork will not happen again. The fisheries authorities in Galway city, for example, opened the salmon weir completely on 11 November in order that all of the flood waters from the Clare river into the Corrib would disperse normally into the Atlantic Ocean. Somebody was keeping an eye on things; perhaps others were not.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, for his contribution and work over the weekend in touring the country. I hope the Government will respond in the next few days in a far more meaningful manner to give people genuine hope and the support necessary in their hour of need.