Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As all Senators will know, my home peninsula, Inishowen, was devastated by floods last August. The village of Burnfoot was particularly devastated. Journalists from RTÉ and the rest of the national media were based in that village for two days. They told the story of the families. In one council estate, Grianan Park, which is a lovely little community, half of the residents were out of their homes. Raw sewage washed through their homes. They were heartbroken. They have been told that they will not be back in their homes this year or for the foreseeable future.

Other private homes and businesses were absolutely devastated. A range of senior Ministers came in and promised them that flood defences would be built. This was a sore point because, even though it had flooded repeatedly, a cost-benefit analysis ruled out flood defences for the location. It was assessed to be better and cheaper to let the houses flood than to build flood defences. It was offensive.

Today, eight months later, a major announcement has been made in Ahtlone today and I am shocked that no commitment has been given on Burnfoot. The community in Burnfoot should be getting news today that the village's flood defences are to be built as soon as possible. We are hearing that further assessments are being done and there could be another announcement in four weeks.

The Ministers know who they are because they stood before those families and business owners who were heartbroken, many of whom are still not back in their homes. They were given promises that this would be sorted out. The people of Donegal - not just Inishowen - and the north west will not accept those people being abandoned. We were expecting in the next four weeks flood defences to be confirmed by the Minister of State. It should have been confirmed today.