Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Labour Party, and as somebody who is based in the north inner city of Dublin in a place that was the site of fairly dramatic flooding almost two decades ago, I welcome this motion. As has been said a number of times in this debate, as global warming continues to bite, flooding will probably be one of the main ways that climate change will be experienced in this country. There tends to be a misconception out there that as an island, we escape some of the most extreme weather events, but as history shows, flooding is one area where our own climate can be extremely unforgiving and devastating.

The second point I wish to make is that while, year after year, we see the devastating pictures of flooding from the River Shannon, and almost on an annual basis from Cork and other parts of the country, it is also a significant concern for Dublin. I wish to quote directly from Dublin City Council's current climate action plan, which covers the period up to 2024. It states:

Dublin Bay's average sea level appears to be rising faster than initially forecasted and has risen by twice the global average in the last 20 years. The number of days with heavy rainfall has also increased, and the amount of extreme flooding events in the capital has risen in the last 10 years.

While many might say that flooding is an issue that affects the west and the south, it is also a very real concern, prospect and threat in the capital. Dublin City Council's climate action plan goes on to rank the likelihood of increased coastal flooding in Dublin due to rising sea levels, and increased river flooding, as high. Most starkly, the plan identifies the increasing risk of so-called pluvial flooding in the city, which can affect any part of the city and not necessarily those in close proximity to the coast, as very high. When we break that down into the impact on households and businesses, Gama location intelligence agency, which is used by most insurers, has stated that if there is a 2°C rise in temperatures by 2050, as many as 23,000 properties in Dublin will be at a direct risk of flooding. That is not far off the nationally projected figure of 70,000 properties at risk. Bringing it back to the area that I am most familiar with, it is the area that covers Fairview, North Strand, Ballybough, Dublin Port and the immediate areas on either side of the River Liffey. The costs arising from such a flooding event playing out are enormous. It is estimated that the cost would be in excess of €2 billion for the country as a whole and over €600 million for Dublin alone. That relates only to the cost of damage to property; it does not include damage to amenities, infrastructure, roads and streets, etc.

While we must acknowledge and recognise that this motion is taking place in the context of broader Government moves to address the very real concern that we are now facing in respect of climate change, we should also prepare for the prospect that we may not meet our targets. I note the last line of the motion mentions a "new revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan in 2022". We need to see a very ambitious river basin management plan. It may not sound like the most exciting of plans, but it will have a very real impact on households. In particular, it is worth highlighting that Ireland is one of only six member states that has not completed its consultation phase, which will run until April 2022, and that previous European Commission reports on Ireland have criticised our river basin management as having low ambition, being underdeveloped and lagging behind in implementation. That is damning in respect of the attitude towards river basin management in this country.

Reflecting locally on when the issue has been taken seriously and when there has been success, 20 years ago it took the evacuation of 200 houses and the intervention of the Taoiseach, who happened to live in the area that was flooded near the River Tolka, which is second largest river in Dublin after the River Liffey, for those flood defences to be put in place. Thankfully, we have not seen significant flooding there over the last 15 years because of the hard engineering works that were done in the area. However, there remain concerns, for example, on Richmond Road, along the River Tolka area.

Of course, we must talk about soft engineering, the increased need for forestry and other measures, but in an urban context, we must also look at planning. While we need appropriate high-rise buildings in the city, the design of some of the buildings that are being planned along the River Tolka currently is of concern in terms of how it may impact on the river into the future.

I wish to conclude by stating that I welcome the motion. Obviously, we would like to see greater ambition with regard to setting targets in a motion to try and push the debate on, but having this discussion with the Minister of State today is most important.