Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on the hands-on, effective job he is doing. I thank him for visiting Cavan recently, where he witnessed the good work of our chief executive, Tommy Ryan, Paul Mulligan, all the outdoor staff, the Civil Defence and so forth. On that occasion, too, the Minister of State announced €205,000 for relief works in the Drumullan area of Cavan, which is very welcome.

In the midst of the dramatic cases around the country, it can often be missed that counties such as Cavan have a problem with flooding as well. The River Erne catchment area and the catchment areas of its subsidiaries have a flooding issue. Some 17 homes have been flooded over recent years and a further 14 were under threat and saved by sandbags and various defences. Many of them were flooded previously years ago. During the recent winter floods, 83 public roads were impassable, 112 families were cut off and five had to be evacuated. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been flooded with a significant loss of income to farmers. Land is unusable for months after floods, there is a loss of land to spread slurry and there is delayed growth of grass. These are the tangible outcomes and realities in County Cavan, which the Minister of State witnessed when he was good enough to visit in the company of me and my colleagues.

I am happy we have the national response the Minister of State cited in his remarks earlier and that there is €1 billion in the national development plan for it. I welcome that funding. A total of 42 major flood defence schemes have been completed along with 500 minor works schemes, and 6,500 acres of land have benefited. These are good developments. However, I share the annoyance of colleagues with the insurance industry for not doing its business. There should be a tangible response from the insurance industry to any works that are carried out anywhere in the country. There should be no question of people not getting insurance when works have been carried out in areas. In addition, there should be competitive insurance.

I am anxious that the Minister of State leaves this debate with the realisation, which he is developing, that there is a problem in many counties in the country, not just in the dramatic cases. Second, we must confront the insurance companies head on. It is not right that the Minister of State is doing such an excellent job and we are not getting a response from the insurance companies. That is unacceptable.

Climate change is another issue my colleagues mentioned and which I wish to emphasise. Indeed, Senator Lombard raised it in his opening remarks. We cannot avoid the question. We must tackle climate change head on. A number of strategies and a multisectoral response will be required to deal with it effectively. We have a particular difficulty with transportation as transport is the highest offending area, for want of a better term.I hope the Minister will advocate that we will have to have a response by way of electric cars and the further incentivisation of their use. We will also have to examine a number of other rounded solutions. This is a national problem. It transcends politics and all societal divisions. Every class of people and social grouping is affected. Flooding affects everybody. Being flooded is a crisis for a family. Their house and area are never the same afterwards.

It is good this debate is taking place. I am very pleased with what the Minister of State is doing and I hope he will take on board what we are saying to him today.