John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Unfortunately, there are no timelines for the implementation of a more localised approach. Perhaps he could follow up with a written response to me in that regard. While generalised weather warnings might have been appropriate yesterday from the north tip of Kilkenny down to the south of the county, often, as was the case last week and this week, it is more appropriate to have a higher level of warning for certain areas.

When we first implemented those warning systems, people paid good heed to them but unfortunately an element of fatigue has set in over time when people hear of yellow or orange warnings and it is really only red warnings that they pay attention to. Could we be more specific with the warning system? We could say, for example, that an orange rainfall warning in a specific area of a county is likely to lead to heavy flooding and that people should therefore take precautionary actions. That is something that would resonate more with the public and with businesses and that is the type of system we need. The sooner that can happen, the better.