Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending this debate. I saw him on the TV3 programme last night presented by Matt Cooper and Ivan Yates, during the course of which Evelyn Cusack of Met Éireann and RTÉ drew attention to the mean increase of 1° Celsius in sea temperatures globally. We are seeing the pictures and reports in the newspapers of glaciers melting in the Arctic and Antarctic and sea levels rising. All of this means we will inevitably see more flooding in future years. It is not the case that one will encounter a huge wave coming in as one takes a morning walk in Tramore Bay, for example. Rather, what we are seeing is a slow, creeping rise in global sea levels. An increase of 1° Celsius in global temperatures means there will be more flooding in this country and more weather events like Storm Ophelia.

I join the Minister of State and colleagues in expressing my sincere and deep condolences to the families who lost loved ones on Monday. My heart goes out to them as they deal with this horrific, unexpected and tragic event. In the aftermath of Storm Ophelia, we must take heed of the fact that with more such weather events bound to impact Ireland in the coming years, we will experience greater disruption to transport systems and electricity supply, as we saw in recent days. We will see the impact, too, in hospitals and other services throughout the country, and we must be prepared for that. In Tramore, for instance, several users of the Brothers of Charity disability services lost power in their homes and had to be rehoused in hotels. Many communities across the island were impacted in this way.

As someone who is new to the Seanad and to party politics, it seems to me there is a lack of recognition on our part of what is coming down the line and the preparation that is required in that regard. Girl guides years ago would take the pledge Bí Ullaimh, or Be Prepared, but it seems we in politics are not heeding that advice. An event of this kind of strength in these latitudes is extremely rare, with the wind forces we saw on Monday necessitating a red alert warning from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. That has never happened before, notwithstanding claims to the contrary by Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and others. We have never had a red alert of that magnitude since recordings began in this State. It calls to mind the red flag that goes up on the beach in the summertime. Storm Ophelia was the red flag going up over the Oireachtas to warn Ministers and all of us in these Houses to wake up and, instead of just talking, take real action.

In the course of conducting a survey of litter on the beach in Tramore last week on behalf of Coastwatch Europe, my fellow surveyors and I identified swarms of Portuguese men o' war, a type of jellyfish, around the south coast just a few days ahead of the storm. When we reported this to Ms Karin Dubsky, Coastwatch Europe co-ordinator at Trinity College, she told us we should not be seeing that particular species off our coast. This is the type of bioindicator that tells us things are changing, and it serves as another red flag warning us that serious action is now required to deal with climate change and global warming. People do not want to know about it, unfortunately, and the media do not want to report it, but we had better face up to the reality of what is happening. Schools are doing great work in this area, with the green flag award scheme run by An Taisce and the eco recognition programme run by UNESCO. Young people get it, unlike us middle-aged folk. It is our responsibility to learn the facts and ensure effective mitigation and adaptation measures are in place to protect the future for our children. Words are no longer enough.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the great efforts by many people in Tramore to ensure people and property were protected last Monday. My local radio station, WLR, issued repeated warnings and information bulletins and included interviews with Waterford City and County council manager, Michael Walsh. In addition, local business people, including Thomas McCarthy and others, set about stacking one-tonne bags of sand and stone outside coastal business premises to alleviate damage caused by the storm. As another speaker said, the fear of God, or whoever or whatever one believes in, was in the hearts of people down around the south coast on Monday. I have spent lots of time at sea on small boats, but I stood in my home on Monday morning, with my daughter who has special needs, and was nervous just looking out the window. It was absolutely frightening.

Senator Mac Lochlainn has described the Minister of State as a man of action whose activities he has witnessed in Buncrana and elsewhere. I agree the Minister of State is a man of action who likes to get involved at ground level. I join my colleagues in placing our hope in him. We are with him in the push to ensure this country is ready for what lies ahead. That will require a move to renewables. It is not enough to be talking about systems or calling for another report or review. The Minister of State must make change happen. Otherwise, we will see more of the type of damage caused by Storm Ophelia. The coming weekend will see the arrival of Storm Brian and there will be a lot more of this type of weather event coming down the line.

The Minister of State may be aware of a group in Cork, the Love the Lee campaign, which is involved in public activism on the issue of flood barriers and defences in that county.Professor Robert Devoy of the geography department at University College Cork, who worked with that group, has expressed major misgivings about the plans to reinforce the banks of the River Lee with oversized and out-of-place defences. What is the Minister of State's response to those concerns and does he have any view on proposals for tidal barriers further out in the harbour? Any barriers will have an impact on infrastructure, on biodiversity and on the populations and communities living around the barriers. However, there has been a lot of flooding along the River Lee in recent years and action must be taken now to address it.

We are in the midst of a process of climate change. Evelyn Cusack of Met Éireann and RTE has noted that temperatures have risen by 1° Celsius and, as a consequence, we will be seeing more and more flooding in the future. We in this House wish to stand beside the Minister of State in an effort to ready this country, via flood defences and otherwise, as we face the very real consequences of climate change.