Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brady, and thank her for coming to the House. It is disappointing the Minister, Deputy Gormley, is not in the Chamber.

This debate is about looking after people following the destruction of their homes and livelihoods. In the city of Cork there is no running water and flooding is continuing. Extraordinary efforts have been made by front-line services and volunteers, whom I commend again. As Bishop Colton said this morning, people are reconnecting with their values of neighbourliness and friendliness.

I pay tribute also to the local media, be it radio, television or newspapers, for the work they did in communicating with people, and the council staff.

We must invest in the quay walls in Cork. Every year for the past eight years Councillor Jim Corr, at estimates time and before it when we were doing the roads budget, advocated the enhancement, reinforcement and provision of funding for the quay walls yet we have had no money from central Government for the quay walls in Cork. That is a project that cannot be done by the local authority on its own. It carried out works near City Hall at a huge cost but assistance is needed from the State. It is extraordinary that all the money from the Celtic tiger era has evaporated and as Senator Boyle is well aware, as a former member of Cork City Council, the key job of restoring and enhancing the quay walls in Cork has not been done. Local authorities do not have the funding. They need capital funding from central Government to do that.

In my remarks prior to the adjournment of the debate I spoke about the role of the ESB. I do not want to castigate anybody but it must answer questions about the rate of the release of water. I am told 530 cubic metres per second were released down the Lee Valley and in the catchment reserve coming into it 800 cubic metres per second were released. Those figures illustrate there was a real crisis in water management and with the level of water in Cork on Thursday night.

I agree with Deputy Phil Hogan that an investigation is needed, devoid of politics, into how we can learn from this experience and avoid a repetition in the future. The areas that were flooded in Cork city, for example, have not been flooded in 50 years.

I was in homes and businesses on Friday morning and afternoon which were ruined. One poor woman refused to go back into her home of more than 50 years. This issue is important. It is not about compensation but ensuring we learn from this experience. I am sure we will get the lecture about climate change. I agree with the Minister, Deputy Gormley. The planning decisions taken were daft, futile and ill-thought out and in some cases we are paying the price for that now. I have no difficulty saying that because the Minister is right. I have a history of standing up to developers on different planning issues but I want to know why this happened and how it happened in Cork. How effective was the management plan in answering the need when it was greatest? I would like that question answered in this independent review or investigation. How did the plan work in the affected areas?

On the issue of compensation outlined eloquently by Senator Cannon this morning, it is €10 million plus €2 million. The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, spoke about it being an initial assessment but we must look after people. The early warning system must be put in place. We need a national flood alert system and we must give support to local authorities. I commend the local authority in Cork and the volunteers on the great work they are doing in providing safe drinking water to people in the communities. We must support local authorities. The water table is at a certain level but remedial work to clear the drains has not been done. I saw Michael Cullen clearing the drains in the middle parish last Friday. I see Denis Coffey in the Mahon community centre spearheading volunteerism. Those two people are working flat-out on behalf of the community and the Government must come in behind them. I do not blame the Government for the flooding but we must recognise that people are in distress. The concern must be to have a co-ordinated plan to assist the people in putting right what has happened as a consequence of the flooding. If we are to develop a serious response to this crisis it requires local authorities, central Government, the OPW and whoever else should be in that mix sitting down with the ESB in Cork and representatives of Ardnacrusha in the west and discussing how we can move forward from this crisis.

Allowing for the fact that climate change is upon us, and anybody who is honest recognises that our weather patterns have changed, we must have an integrated response. I welcome the fact the Government has embraced some of the Fine Gael proposals made over the weekend. I commend the volunteerism and the spirit of the people in Cork but we must have an independent review of what happened so we can learn from this experience and prevent it happening again.