Seanad debates
Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Adjournment Matters. - Flood Relief.
Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, to the House to give his views on the stress caused to many local residents and businesses in the Clonee, Dunboyne and Mulhuddart areas last weekend, together with its impact on the residents of Drumcondra. The Minister of State will be aware that Dunboyne-Clonee is a fast growing area. Some 7,000 houses will be granted planning permission in the Clonee general area, together with the huge development taking place in Dunboyne. In addition, the proposed county development plan will increase development along the N3.
We have no expert advice on this yet, but the general consensus is that because of all the houses built in the area, there is now an immediate run-off to the Tolka and lands do not have time to drain. Underground drainage systems may have been disturbed as well as various tributaries. I call on the Minister to instigate a programme of action. Three council areas, Meath, Fingal and the city council, are affected by this problem and there is no point in having each council do its own thing. I understand works done by Meath County Council on the Tolka in Clonee village might have contributed to the problem. The basin of the river was essentially corralled into a pipe which led to some of the flooding.
At the weekend many houses in the areas concerned were flooded, distress was caused to families and young children and losses were incurred by local businesses and the local and national economy, as could be seen by looking at the radial routes coming into Dublin, which had been completely blocked by people not able to get to work. Goods and services were not being delivered to businesses. Clonee is an old village, but many new premises have now been established. Approximately 300 people work in the village. I welcome the humanitarian aid being directed to the victims through the Red Cross and ask that it be extended or that some consideration be given to businesses in the area because the heart has been torn out of the village. If there is not a vibrant village, there will be no services for the communities concerned. I ask the Minister to examine this as well as the damage caused to houses and consider an integrated action plan through the three councils.
Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)
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On my own behalf and that of the Government, I express sympathy to everyone affected by flooding in recent days. It has been a very traumatic time, as the Senator said, for those whose homes have been flooded. We all saw what happened on television and the newspapers and I had an opportunity of seeing some of the devastation. Serious flooding occurred in many parts of the country. The cause was exceptionally heavy rainfall during a two day period on 9 and 10 November, which led to flooding of homes in Athlone, and again on 14 and 15 November, which primarily affected the east of the country, particularly Dublin city, Meath and Kildare. On its own, this concentrated heavy rainfall would not have been expected to have such disastrous consequences, but when combined with two and a half times the average rainfall in the month of October and the first two weeks in November, it led to the disastrous consequences we have witnessed.
The immediate concern is to respond quickly to those affected by the flooding. Emergency plans were put into action by several local authorities. I commend the local authority staff, the Civil Defence, the Army, the Garda, the fire brigade, health authority staff and my own staff in the Office of Public Works, who were on the spot straight away helping those whose homes were flooded and some whose travel arrangements had been disrupted. The commitment of public service and voluntary staff in this type of situation is exceptional and deserves recognition. Unfortunately, it is only when we have a disaster on our hands that it comes to the fore.
As soon as the seriousness of the situation and the numbers of homes affected by the flooding became apparent, I asked my officials in the Office of Public Works to begin preparations for initiating a humanitarian aid scheme. The House will be aware that the Government has approved such schemes in similar situations in the past – most recently following the devastating flooding in Dublin city in February this year. The House will be aware also that at its meeting yesterday the Government approved my proposal to initiate a similar scheme which will be administered by the Red Cross on behalf of the Office of Public Works. Applications forms for the scheme are available from the Red Cross at a freefone number, 1800 923 424, and at the Red Cross website, www.redcross.ie. The eligibility criteria are extreme hardship, homelessness, damage to homes and serious injury. The scheme does not provide for compensation for losses – it provides for assistance where extreme hardship has been suffered.
The closing date for receipt of applications by the Red Cross is 6 December. Following this, the Red Cross will commence the process of evaluating applications and visiting all applicants to assess need. Payments will commence a number of weeks later. The scheme will be funded from within existing financial allocations to the Office of Public Works. The extent of funding required will become apparent in the next few days as applications are received and more information is collated on the extent of damage caused. Recent comments in the media suggest that approval of funding for the scheme somehow represents a reversal of Government decisions on the Estimates. This is not the case. These schemes are, of their nature, entirely unpredictable and it is not the practice to provide for them in advance in the Estimates.
The flooding in Dublin city and Meath arose from the River Tolka and its tributaries. The Tolka has had a history of carrying significant run-off flows within its watercourse and has flooded frequently, most recently in November 2000. The catchment area of the river falls within the functional area of three local authorities, Meath and Fingal county councils and Dublin City Council. As the lower and middle catchments of the river, and certain concentrated areas within the upper catchment, have witnessed significant increases in land development, the risk of flood damage to property and infrastructure has also increased. There has never been a fully inclusive analysis of the river's behaviour under a full range of potential floods and certainly no investigation of the catchment's response to severe rainfall as it is currently developed and planned to be developed.
In June 2001 Dublin City Council commissioned the greater Dublin strategic drainage study, GDSDS, a multi-million euro engineering study of the strategic drainage requirements of the greater Dublin area. Given the history of flooding in the Tolka and on the initiative of the Office of Public Works, the city council agreed to include a study of the Tolka in the GDSDS. The flooding element of the study is funded by the Office of Public Works at a cost of €870,000. The study is expected to be completed in May 2003. Surveying is now completed and the consultants are commencing work on the hydraulic model of the catchment. Meath and Fingal county councils are also participating in the study.
The aim of the study is to produce a comprehensive report that will include the development of a robust model representing the hydrological and hydraulic characteristics of the River Tolka catchment. Such a model will have the ability to map flood risk. Using model output the technical and economic merit of various options for flood management, taking account of current and future land developments, will be presented within the report. I have asked my officials in the Office of Public Works to ensure the report is completed on time in order that early consideration can be given to its findings. In terms of immediate action I can confirm that the consultants have been asked to produce a report within seven days setting out immediate works that could be carried out without prejudice to the findings of the full report. These immediate measures could include raising walls, relocating footbridges and the use of demountable defences and early warning systems.
Pending this report, the Office of Public Works is also assisting the city council in dealing with damage to walls and river banks. Office of Public Works staff were mobilised at the weekend at the request of the city engineer to deal with the collapse of the river bank at Tolka Road. The city council is rightfully taking the lead in dealing with these matters and the Office of Public Works will assist in whatever way it can.