Averil Power (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Everybody was caught unprepared by the extent of the extreme weather over Christmas. The Minister of State was out doing his best to address it. Understandably, there is a great deal of anger throughout the country, particularly in areas that had previously been flooded. I refer, for example, to Athlone, which was also badly flooded in 2009.

What is important at this stage is that we focus on the future. We cannot control the weather. Unfortunately, the reality of life is that, with climate change, extreme weather events will become more frequent. As the flood waters have receded, it is important that we maintain our resolve. There has been a focus on this issue for the past two months because of the flooding that has taken place throughout the country. There was just as big a focus on it in 2009 and on other occasions when major flooding events occurred but sometimes the problem is that the agenda moves on and the media and the politicians switch their focus to other issues. It is essential that does not happen in this instances because we are going to experience further extreme weather events in the coming years. It is essential to put the investment and preparation in place now in order to ensure that we can help people cope. We cannot control the weather but we can certainly prepare and help people to protect their homes and businesses more effectively in the future.

Suggestions have been made across the House on various different ways in which this can be done. The issue of insurance has been mentioned. There should be universal insurance cover for flooding. It is no different to community rating for health insurance purposes. I have heard some of the insurance companies state that, in the case of flooding, that they do not want to cover those at risk, they do not cover certainties and they only cover events that are unlikely or less likely to happen. That is not the case in the health insurance market. An insurer cannot state it is refusing health insurance because of one's medical history. Even if somebody has serious medical issues or a genetically inherited illness runs in his or her family, as a society we believe that everybody should be entitled to health insurance. That means the rest of us, those who are healthy, pay more but we believe that this is a societal value worth upholding and that nobody should be left on their own when bad health hits.The same should apply in situations like this. Of course, we need to ensure more effective planning in order that we do not build on flood plains. Some of the decisions made in the past were absolutely disgraceful. They are not the fault of the unfortunate people living in houses now that should never have been built and perhaps there is a need to consider relocation, but we cannot to say to them that they are on their own. There is a need to step up to find a solution. The Government should force the insurance companies to cover everybody. The UK has a levy for this purpose and we should fight for that principle here. I urge the Minister of State to prioritise that.

Improved flood protection measures are required throughout the country. Major schemes should be undertaken to protect areas under threat such as Athlone. Individuals property owners should be helped. I have corresponded with the Minister of State's Department and the Office of Public Works over the past two years about householders in Sutton, Baldoyle and elsewhere. There are only two or three houses on the coast road from Baldoyle to Portmarnock. Fingal County Council and the OPW accept that they are at risk of flooding and they have been flooded several times, but the householders have been told there is no justification for a major flood protection scheme because there are only two or three houses on the road. As they have pointed out to me, if they want to insulate their homes, they can get a grant for that purpose but they cannot for flood protection. A mix of large flood protection schemes where they are justified in densely populated areas, towns and villages and smaller schemes for vulnerable homes, which are highlighted on OPW maps, is needed. Let us at least have a scheme that enables householders to do their best to protect their own homes. I have pushed this issue for the past two years and I hope the resolve is there to address it.

Most of the attention currently is on fluvial flooding but protections against tidal flooding are also necessary. It must be ensured investment is put in place. There are great plans in the Department for flood protection measures throughout the county and it is essential the funding they require is provided. Major flood protection schemes should be undertaken in a way that both provides the necessary protection against flooding but also preserves existing amenities. In this context, I refer to Clontarf. Everybody wants proper flood relief measures to protect homes and businesses, but the initial proposals that were brought forward, as Dublin City Council has admitted, took no account of the overall environment. It was proposed to build a large wall that would block off the sea. The promenade is full every day, from first thing in the morning to late at night with people jogging, walking and cycling, and it would not have been used because it would have been cut off from the road. Women, in particular, said they would not walk where they could not be seen. The schemes, therefore, need to be environmentally sensitive as well. They should provide the necessary protection while also preserving amenities. There is another issue on a different stretch of that road between Clontarf and Raheny where there is significant community concern about the way flood protection measures have been undertaken. A crude, cheap concrete wall was erected which has blocked beautiful views of the sea that passers-by could enjoy. There is no longer any view and people are upset about that. There is no history of tidal flooding in the area. I conducted a site visit with the engineers involved last week and they admitted that the risk is from river flooding caused by water emerging from St. Anne's Park. The new scheme cannot deal with that and they said that people will have to live with that, yet a huge wall has been erected to protect against a low tidal risk. There is a tidal flooding risk elsewhere, but that particular stretch of coastline is protected by Dollymount and Bull Island and there is little wave action because of silting and so on. The height of the wall is not necessary. Officials need to be smart about these issues and not come up with a crude, one-size-fits-all approach. They should work with communities to arrive at solutions that will work.

I urge the Minister of State to take those issues on board. He has taken control of them over the past two months and I urge him to continue to work on them as the waters recede and maintain them as a priority in order that those who have been flooded for a second or third time recently do not have to go through that experience again.