Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the recent storm damage which affected so many parts of the country, in particular the western sea board and including the east coast. I welcome also that we are having this debate a few weeks after the storms occurred because we have during the intervening time had an opportunity to assess the full extent of the damage caused. The word "devastated" is regularly used in relation to various issues but to say that communities along the west coast were "devastated" by the recent storms is appropriate. I will leave it to Senators from other parts of the country to deal with the counties they know best and I propose to confine my remarks to my own county, which I know best.

The Kerry coastline took a major battering during the storms on St. Stephen's Day and at the turn of the year. Coastal roads literally crumbled under the force of tidal waves, beaches were torn asunder, beach car parks were rendered inaccessible, power lines were cut and homes and businesses were flooded. It really had to be seen to be believed. One caravan park in south Kerry was utterly devastated by the storms, with mobile homes destroyed and facilities flooded. A new community centre in north Kerry was under water following high tides. Many Senators may be familiar with Rossbeigh, which is a beautiful beach and was shown on many of the RTE news programmes, but it resembled a scene following an earthquake. Such was the force of the waves, a community playground was badly undermined and the main access road to the beach was covered in boulders. The root of the problem at Rossbeigh dates back many years to the collapse of the part of the sand-spit which sticks out into the sea at Castlemaine Harbour. The spit protected many of the homes furthest along the shore in that it prevented the strongest waves coming beyond it. However, it is estimated that in 2008 millions of tons of sand collapsed into the sea, yielding to the forces of nature and coastal erosion. Since then, residents further along the coast have been at risk and, sadly, the worst was realised in recent weeks.

Approximately two years ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, allocated funding to some of the areas in Rossbeigh and Cromane to help build up the embankments alongside the homes of those living very close to the sea. Thankfully, the money invested there appears to have prevented damage as a result of the recent storms. This suggests that much can be done to protect homes and businesses in vulnerable areas. A huge amount of damage was done to other parts of Kerry, including Ballylongford, Ballinskelligs, Lispole and Caherdaniel. The iconic beach in west Kerry where part of "Ryan's Daughter" was filmed no longer exists, and is unlikely to be restored for many years.

Communities in the affected areas are wondering what it will take before real action is taken to protect coastal areas. I have heard many people say that the forces of nature cannot be stopped and that there is nothing we can do to stop coastal erosion. I do not accept that. The people living in coastal communities do not expect enormous barricades to be erected around the entire coast but they do expect the Government and local authorities to make a serious attempt to save them from the worst of what high tides and stormy conditions can bring.

The Minister of State, Deputy Costello, mentioned the figures of €23 million and €18 million in the context of Clare and Galway, respectively. While Kerry County Council estimates that it will require at least €20 million at a meeting this week, council members were told by officials that this is a very conservative estimate. I understand that councils are currently submitting their estimates to the Local Government Management Agency but it is safe to say that the cost of repairing the damage caused will be the most expensive in living memory.

Everybody knows that protection of our coasts from coastal erosion, particularly where storm damage is most acute, will cost money. If this funding cannot be provided by the Exchequer, we will have to look elsewhere for it. I acknowledge that every effort is currently being made by Government to secure as much funding as it can from Europe and I hope it will be successful in that regard. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to and thank the many hundreds of men and women in our local authorities, Eircom and the ESB who left their families over the Christmas period to work day and night in terrible conditions to deal with flooding, broken power lines and structural damage.

I appeal to the Ministers concerned to take a long-term look at the problem of coastal erosion and the impact it is having on communities along the coast. I remind everybody that the Wild Atlantic Way will be launched in 2014. Following on from the success of The Gathering, this has already aroused huge interest from people abroad. Given that they will be driving along coastal areas, the last thing we want them to see is torn up beaches and coastlines. It is important the problem is addressed prior to the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way. What we do not want in the context of addressing this problem is millions of euro spent on consultants' reports and structural assessments, although areas such as Rossbeigh and others need to be properly surveyed. I ask that the Ministers concerned meet the people affected by the flooding and storms. They know better than anyone what needs to be done to address this problem.