Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not mean any disrespect, but I am very disappointed with the response of the Minister of State. The damage to the secondary road network is absolutely amazing. Many news outlets have published photographs of the damage. I have walked around various parts of the area and met many of the residents. Roads have literally been washed away. Work and repairs have been carried out. I am fearful that if a programme is not put in place to ensure we can rebuild these secondary roads, west Cork will not have the infrastructure to cater for locals or tourists or agriculture or any other activity in the area. We need a fund to be put in place to ensure these roads in west Cork can be replaced. There are nearly 12,000 km of roads in County Cork. There is no way the local authority budget can cope with nearly €5 million of damage being caused in ten days. What we need is a fund, possibly over two or three years, to ensure the road network can be improved. As people in the area saw, these events are frightening. On the evening in question, there was approximately 4 inches of rainfall in Rosscarbery in a few hours. Roads were just taken away by the rain. Without the Government stepping in, we will not be in a position to ensure the road network can be replaced.