Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise the issue of the recent flooding in Cork. As everybody will be aware at this stage, severe flooding occurred last Wednesday night following very heavy rainfall last Wednesday night and on previous occasions during June.

The reason I raise this issue is to ensure that a comprehensive report will be prepared and made available under the Minister's direction. It should examine what happened, the background to this flooding issue and if any local infrastructure failed. A new culvert and thrash screen was put in place in the Douglas area in Cork during the past 12 months. It was under construction last summer during the quite period and therefore it is not even 12 months old. Did it perform to the standards expected? This is the kind of question that needs to be answered.

I visited a number of business people and householders in the area on Friday and Saturday of last weekend and the single issue people wanted was that a report dealing with what happened and how it happened would be prepared. They also wanted an assurance that if it was identified that measures could be put in place to prevent a repeat of such flooding occurring they would be put in place. Many of the people affected may not be able to open their businesses again. Many business people's premises are still closed. They are losing business and, unfortunately, also probably customers. People want measures to be put in place to ensure that such flooding in the future can be minimised and hopefully eliminated completely.