Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This is one of the most important debates we have had given that many communities have suffered much due to the flood event. My two colleagues, Senator Michael Mullen and Senator Hildegarde Naughten, who will contribute after me, are in the middle of it on the River Shannon and in Galway, in particular. Like Senator Mary White, I compliment the Minister of State on the work done recently on the River Dargle. This issue is so serious that party politics does not come into it when looking for somebody to blame, apart maybe from the Lord above.

Climate change is very important. COP21 and the agreement signed in Paris by all the various countries and our Climate Change Bill will have a major role to play. That puts the onus on the Minister right down to the people in the community. The Minister of State thanked the people in the community. People are helping each other and farmers are looking after one another's stock which has been moved from farm to farm. Neighbours, local authorities and the Defence Forces are all pulling together. Having said that, there is an onus on each of us to look at climate change and the Climate Change Bill. The plan is being drawn up with all of the sectors and all the Departments coming together to ensure we do our best because prevention is better than the cure. I acknowledge the work that has been done. As the Minister of State said, more will be invested in five years than has been invested for the past 20 years. It is not as if rain does not happen, because it does. We have to ensure we look to work with the climate and work with the rivers.

In the Netherlands, the people work with the rivers. A particular project there, the exact name of which does not come to mind, is room for the river. That is a very important project being undertaken by the Dutch people. It was developed in conjunction with the local community and local knowledge. We have seen people standing on places that have not flooded for 20 years. The cause of that flooding is climate change and we have to ensure that we take the issue seriously.

Responding to the flooding caused by storm Desmond, the Government announced the provision of €5 million in emergency funding and that €8 million was being made available to local authorities. One of the other speakers complimented the Minister of State on how fast he reacted to ensure that funding was made available quickly to the people on the ground. Last year, the Government started the final part of its proactive planning programme to develop feasible flood risk management solutions for 300 areas across the country at most significant risk from flooding. The Minister of State mentioned the CFRAM programme. In all my time in local government, the CFRAM programme is one of the most important ones that has been initiated. There is the CFRAM programme, the core implementation strategy and the Government flood risk policy which is being implemented by the various steering groups. This has involved the surveying and modelling of a 6,700 km watercourse and the production of approximately 40,000 individual flood maps, including those required by EU directive, as the Minister of State said. All of these are available online and people can go into them and check their local areas.

Extensive public consultation, including local knowledge, is very important as is communities working together. This includes meeting with the local representatives and local authority councillors to ensure implementation of the CFRAM programme and exhibiting and proactively discussing draft flood maps to gain additional knowledge which informs that development. I am aware the Minster of State is actively engaged in doing that with the flood risk management plans and 300 areas are on target to be completed by 2016. The €430 million provided in the six year programme for flood defences is welcome. Coming from Galway, I have heard people say the Government is working on it. Many people have asked if money is being made available. I said €430 million is being made available over five years and it is welcome. The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide €200 million in investment to Ireland to tackle flood prevention. The Minister is in Brussels today meeting officials about flood risk management because of the suffering Ireland has endured.

The Minister of State mentioned the meeting with the insurance industry. I listened to them on the radio. Not providing insurance cover where flood defence schemes are working is a cop out. It is asking people to pay money for nothing. Such schemes have worked in other European countries. The demountables work and the insurance companies should be made to insure people who have them. It is a cop out and they should go by international best practice. I hope they will come back to the Minister of State with that message; otherwise, legislation will have to be introduced to make them do it. If one cannot use the carrot, the stick will have to be used.

The River Shannon basin management co-ordination group was mentioned by the Minister of State. My colleagues will probably mention it too. This week, it was tasked with overseeing the River Shannon. We are being given powers to recommend legislative changes to Government. That is important. Setting up talking shops is one thing but the Minister of State has ensured that the River Shannon co-ordination group has teeth. It will oversee the roll-out of the flood defence measures in areas highlighted by his office and the works done by the CFRAM. It will meet on a quarterly basis and publish its work and will be tasked with overseeing the delivery of 66 flood plans. The Minister of State has done much work in his short period in office. He has a lot more to do and, hopefully, he will be here again to do it in the years to come. I thank the Opposition for acknowledging the work he has done since coming into office.