Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

The events of 19 November will not be forgotten in the city of Cork, in particular in the Middle Parish which was submerged in water. The difficulty lies in the fact that there are no answers to why it was submerged, why the area flooded and why the quay walls at Grenville Place collapsed. I raised the matter of the quay walls with the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, earlier this month. However, questions remain unanswered. There must be clarity on the discharge of water. The expectant rate of discharge was 250 cubic metres but it rose to 535 cubic metres. Why did the ESB reveal at 4 p.m. that it had to increase the level of discharge? Fine Gael has been consistent on this issue, through councillors on Cork City Council to Deputy Phil Hogan and me. We need an independent inquiry to delve into the matter and come up with a solution to ensure such an incident, in so far as humanly possible, will never happen again in Cork and to put in place a management structure to ensure the 100 residents of the Middle Parish who were displaced will never have to go through this again.

The compelling case for an independent investigation into the flooding in Cork is based on a number of factors. The report presented to Cork City Council by its manager, Mr. Joe Gavin, is completely at variance with what the ESB told Oireachtas Members of all parties at meetings in Cork and what it has stated publicly. I am not interested in apportioning blame but we need to understand why there was a deficit in communications; why no early flood warning system was in place; why we do not have a coded flooding alert system, be it amber, red or green; and, pertinently in this case, who makes decisions on water storage and water discharge. Where is the chain of communication with the ESB and the local authorities? Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the ESB have a case to answer. This is about transparency and accountability. It is about getting answers to the questions every citizen affected has been asking.

The Minister of State must agree that while the city manager presented a detailed report which itemised what happened from 11.30 a.m. on the Thursday to the end of the emergency, the ESB told us a different story. Into that mix we must put University College Cork which told us that it had received a single warning prior to lunchtime on the Thursday. I hope the Minister of State will state that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Mansergh, whose Departments intertwine on this issue, will commit to holding an independent investigation.

The people of Cork and I are not interested in having an Oireachtas committee investigate this matter. By all means, invite people to meetings but, as the Minister of State knows from her constituency in County Kildare, flooding causes not only physical damage but also human trauma. That is why this should not happen again. I hope she will commit to holding an independent investigation that will allow the people of Cork to receive answers. While we should not have a witch-hunt, we should put in place an early flood warning system, enhance the quay walls and flood defence barriers and put in place a communications system that will, in so far as possible, ensure this will not happen again.