Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for all the work he has put into this issue in recent weeks.

I am sure the Minister of State has many other things on his mind at present and he would have preferred not to have had to leave Dublin as much as he has, but he did so and we appreciate it. In crises it is always good to see a response from the Government, and the Government has responded to this crisis. There are also good news stories. I am from Tipperary and the flood walls in Clonmel were very successful. Last weekend the mountable pieces that go on top of the walls had to be used and they held the flood. Last Monday night week the river was within 6 in. of coming over the 5 ft. high walls in my home town of Carrick-on-Suir but it did not do so. If it had done so, we would have been back to the drawing board. It was the worst recorded flood in the town, yet the defences held. It was fantastic and I commend those who stuck out their necks.

In 1996 the late Minister, Hugh Coveney, visited Carrick-on-Suir in the midst of a similar crisis and committed to sorting out the matter. Good work has been done, but much more has to be done. I have been in contact with many local authority members in affected areas. The Minister of State visited Limerick, and I have spoken to councillor Tom Shortt, who is very active on this issue. He asked me whether it was a freak situation and whether we would see it again. On 1 February the amount of water that came in created a saucer effect in the St. Mary's Park area of Limerick and the water could not get out. The tide did not bring it back out. How will this be addressed? Much of the money, amounting to millions of euro, spent on getting the area ready for regeneration has been wasted. This is a specific issue and I ask the Minister of State to comment on it.

A particular issue that has arisen in Galway has been brought to my attention. The Silverstrand area is awaiting rock support armoury, which is in the system, but if it is not done soon the new park will be destroyed and all of the money spent on it will be wasted. Councillors in Galway raised this issue with me and have also written to the Minister of State. Local authorities are being offered 90% of the cost, but they do not have the other 10% and are being told the works will not go ahead because of this. Will the Minister of State address this issue?

Senator Gilroy, who is from Cork, will speak about what has happened there. The Minister of State attended a very successful meeting in Cork with the Chamber of Commerce, business people and political groups. They saw the Minister of State had mapped out a future for relief in Cork city.

The Minister of State mentioned that the situation along the coast is different. Anyone who saw the photograph, which has gone viral, of the seafront and road in Tramore would have been frightened. It took 14 trucks of cement to fill the gap. The particular problems there are ongoing and have also been experienced in Dunmore East and Passage East. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, visited the area at the weekend.

I welcome the effort made by the Minister of State with the insurance companies. Senator Barrett spoke very well on this issue. It seems one is insured until one experiences the first flood and then one is out of the system. My grandparents lived in a house in Mill Street in Carrick-on-Suir in 1912 and were consistently flooded for three or four years before insurance companies existed. They moved house because of it. Since then thousands of houses have been allowed to be built on flood plains, but they were accepted by insurance companies in the knowledge of where they were. However, after a flooding problem first arose the insurance companies no longer insured them. Insurance companies in the health sector are not allowed cherry-pick in the market and must take what comes in the door. We had much debate on this when new companies entered the market. We should tell insurance companies that they cannot cherry-pick in the house insurance market or run away from a problem when it occurs. Otherwise, there is little point in having insurance companies. Will the Minister of State address this issue in his response?