Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join others in welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, to the Chamber. Although he represents Dublin, his west of Ireland background equips him to understand the issues that we faced on Friday, 3 January. My parish of Ennistymon and Lahinch in County Clare were severely affected. Indeed, €5.8 million worth of damage was done to Lahinch alone, with €23.7 million worth of damage to the Clare coastline. The infrastructure of my parish and neighbouring parishes were decimated by the freak conditions, which were a combination of high spring tides and stormy weather.

It is difficult to imagine the level of damage done, it was so extensive. We all fought hard to get Government and other funding for the construction of public infrastructure that was subsequently damaged by the weather. We raised €100,000 over a two-year period to replace railings on the promenade at Lahinch. The replacements were imported to ensure they were weather resistant and rust-proof. Half of them were wiped away and the promenade's streetscape was destroyed.

Other areas that did not receive as much attention, such as the White Strand in Miltown Malbay, Clahane and Liscannor pier, suffered considerable damage. Most important was the damage done in Quilty, where people are still homeless because of it. Down the coast, significant damage was done to Kilbaha and Carrigaholt.

I join with others in commending the fantastic effort - I would call it a meitheal - made by local authority workers in conjunction with the emergency services. For example, when the Coast Guard was called at 6 a.m. to take families from their homes, it responded speedily and, importantly, showed empathy. I commend the hundreds of people from around the country who saw the damage on television and gave of their time to help with the clean up. The amount of rubbish in the sea was incredible. Thousands of bags of rubbish were collected from the promenade, walkways and golf club at Lahinch.

I was disappointed with the initial Government reaction. I do not understand why the interdepartmental emergency task force could not have met on the Friday. The severity of the damage was well known through the local authorities and the media. The meeting should have been held at lunchtime on Friday, not at lunchtime on Monday. If the task force did not understand the damage on Friday, the meeting should still have been held on Saturday. Noon on Monday sent out all of the wrong signals. It seemed to take three or four days to pull an emergency response together. If the River Liffey had burst its banks and caused the same damage to Dublin, I do not doubt that the interdepartmental emergency task force would have met on Friday.

Communication from the Government was not what it should have been. I credit the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who took the issue by the scruff of the neck and showed some leadership.