Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

I have never witnessed anything like it. People in their 80s, some of whom are neighbours of mine, have never witnessed flooding of the like that has occurred during recent days. That despair was crystalised for me by a conversation I had with a businessman from Gort who telephoned me on Sunday night. He has been unable to secure insurance cover against flooding in recent years because the area in which he operates is constantly flooded and is now facing into Christmas with the possibility of no income for the next few weeks. The stock he had in for Christmas has been destroyed by the floods. He told me he finds it difficult to look across the breakfast table at his children because he is afraid they will see the fear and despair in his eyes. He does not know what to do and is turning to us, the Government and people who lead this country, for hope.

I despair, if all we can offer these people, of whom there are thousands throughout the country, is a paltry €10 million. How detached or devoid of empathy have we become if the people who lead this country can offer the people suffering such devastation the paltry sum of €10 million? This day, the coffers of the National Pensions Reserve Fund amount to €21 billion, of which €1.4 billion is cash. This year we deemed it acceptable, and debatably so, for us to hand over €7 billion of those funds to the banks. We also deemed it acceptable, and rightly so, to hand over €750 million from our national budget to overseas development aid. How come, when our own people cry out for hope at the end of a long and traumatic experience, the most we can commit to them is €10 million? I despair. I ask Members opposite, if they are having a parliamentary party meeting this week, to raise this issue with their colleagues in the Lower House.