Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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Naturally enough, I will speak of the tough time people in north Louth, on the Cooley Peninsula and in certain parts of Dundalk had last week. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the Minister for Community and Rural Development, Deputy Humphreys. Both were on the phone to me straight away. The Minister promised that the humanitarian assistance scheme would be opened immediately.The Minister of State promised that he would come to County Louth as soon as possible and compile a full report, in conjunction with the local authority, on why this happened and why it would not happen again. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, ensured that the business support scheme was open to help affected businesses. The Government’s quick response was important. We have set aside a substantial amount of money for these schemes. Critically, we have not allowed bureaucracy to get in the way and form filling to slow down the process. In particular, the community welfare officer was excellent in ensuring that the money got to people who needed it straight away.

I wish to discuss why this happened and how to ensure it does not happen again. Let us start with Carlingford. Trinity Close and Abbey Court were two of the worst affected estates. All of the homes there flooded. People who had built lives in their homes for the past ten or 20 years saw all of that hard work and effort wiped out by a night of flooding. The issue, and one that has been raised with me time and again across the Cooley Peninsula, is that the water had nowhere to go because the drains were blocked and the culverts were not being maintained. While we can never negate nature, we can try to mitigate its effects by looking after infrastructure properly. It must fall on local authorities to ensure that drains and culverts are clear. When this type of flash flooding happens – water came down off a mountain and had nowhere to go because the drains were not being cleared – it is frustrating for many people.

Right behind Trinity Close is a wooded area called the Manse. In recent years, many trees and hedgerows there have been cut down. They were natural flood barriers. A man-made diversion also saw a stream being completely diverted into the path of the ten to 12 houses of Trinity Close. All of this is concerning.

Some roads in other parts of north Louth have been wiped away. For example, the bridge on Deerpark Road in Ravensdale does not exist anymore. Further along the road in Ballymakellett in Ravensdale, a stream flowing off it was akin to a mudslide and destroyed many homes and gardens.

I must be considerate of the local authority’s response in these situations and ask why the Civil Defence and Army were not called in at any point to help with sandbags. Some 2,000 to 3,000 sandbags were provided to people across the Cooley Peninsula to help, but this was a major emergency and all hands should have been on deck. The level of flooding was inexcusable. The fire service told me that it had nowhere to pump the water to because this drain was blocked or that drain was full and that we just had to spend the next few days waiting for nature to take its course. It is not acceptable in this day and age that so many drains and culverts are blocked. Unblocking them would not have made what happened any better – flooding would still have been an issue – but it would have mitigated the effects. It certainly would have been helpful to many of those who were flooded in the past week and the many businesses that were destroyed.

Key now is to ensure we get the funding. Many of the applications have already been approved, which is helpful. We must get the funding to people as quickly as possible.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. On my behalf and that of the Government, I express sympathy to the people of north Louth, including the Cooley Peninsula, who had their houses and businesses flooded last week. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donovan, visited some of the affected areas last week to see the impact of this flood event at first hand.

The flooding experienced in Louth was partly the result of heavy rain. Louth County Council’s severe weather team was convened to ensure a co-ordinated response was in place to deal with the ongoing weather problems associated with the heavy rainfall, particularly in the north of the county. The primary focus in the aftermath of the flood event was ensuring public safety by attending to road closures and infrastructural damage within the north Louth area. Since the evening of Monday, 30 October, staff of Louth County Council have responded to numerous flooding instances throughout the affected areas of the county. The fire service of Louth County Council also attended incidents throughout Monday and Tuesday of last week, rescuing members of the public from vehicles that had been stranded by flood waters. As the flood waters receded, local authority crews mobilised to remove debris from roads, enabling transport routes to reopen as soon as possible. The Civil Defence was able to help those who were isolated by the flooding and required transport to necessary appointments. Extra sandbags continue to be provided in areas where there is a risk of further flooding. A supply of sandbags is available at the designated Louth County Council depots for collection by members of the public. Louth County Council has confirmed that drains are being jetted in affected estates.

I would like to pay tribute to the staff of the local authority and other emergency response agencies for their work in very difficult and challenging conditions during this flooding event. Last week the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, announced that she has secured a further €3 million in funding for the humanitarian assistance scheme, which is administered by the Department of Social Protection. This scheme provides support to those living in properties directly affected by flooding following severe weather conditions. It prevents hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged by flooding and severe weather events and who are unable to meet costs for essential needs, household items and structural repair.

Last week the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Simon Coveney, extended the two previously approved emergency business flooding schemes for small businesses, sports clubs, community and voluntary organisations that are unable to secure flood insurance and have been affected by recent flooding in Louth in the period from 24 October to 5 November. Under these schemes, emergency humanitarian contributions may be made available towards the cost of returning business premises, community, voluntary and sporting bodies to their pre-flood condition, including the replacement of fittings and fixtures and damaged stock.

The response to last week's flood event in north Louth demonstrates the importance of the Government's framework for major emergency management. This underpins co-ordination of responses to all emergencies in Ireland, including flooding. Through this framework, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead Government Department, with national responsibility for co-ordinating the response to severe weather emergencies, including flooding. Local authorities are designated as lead agencies for response to flooding events within their administrative areas and for ensuring that effective arrangements are put in place to receive and respond to public service weather warnings issued by Met Éireann.

As the clean up from the event continues, the OPW and the county council are working to progress flood relief schemes which will protect at-risk properties in north Louth and the Cooley Peninsula. Last Friday drone footage was captured and other surveying has been organised. The OPW and the council will meet on Thursday of this week to assess the flood mechanisms and damages from the event. This will also help to inform the proposed flood relief scheme for Carlingford and Greenore.

This scheme is supported by the Government's €1.3 billion plan for flood relief through the national development plan. Since 2018, this funding has allowed the Government to treble to 100 the number of major flood relief schemes at design, planning and construction stages.

In conclusion, I again want to sympathise with the people whose homes and businesses were affected by last week's floods. I assure them and the House of the Government's support during the recovery and that we will protect these communities from similar events in the future.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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In Dundalk the flooding was not as severe as elsewhere. However, if one went north of the Ballymac roundabout last week, it was like a bomb had hit the Cooley Peninsula, it was that terrible compared to other parts of County Louth. However, in parts of Dundalk like Cluan Enda and Bay Estate in particular, there was also bad flooding because there is a problem with the drainage system. This has been a recurring problem over the last five to ten years. It is now time that people got proper answers from the local authority. If this has been consistently happening over the last decade what do we now to make it stop? I hope the OPW will be able to push that point home in its engagement with Louth County Council. The same applies to the Cooley peninsula, where much of the flooding was flash flooding from the mountains. Much of the flooding was as a result of rivers not being de-silted and properly maintained. Rivers burst their banks and destroyed homes. That type of proper maintenance really needs to happen. It is simply inexcusable that it is not done regularly throughout the year by the local authority.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The flooding events in north Louth and the Cooley peninsula last week as a result of heavy rainfall on saturated ground show the importance of the OPW's planned programme to manage Ireland's flood risk. The completion of 53 flood relief schemes is already protecting 12,000 properties from flooding and avoiding damages of some €2 billion. The 2018 OPW risk management plans were evidenced from the largest study of flood risk ever undertaken by the State, through the catchment flood risk assessment and management programme.

These plans provide a proactive and planned approach to managing flood risk. All flood relief schemes are built to be adaptable to the increased risk from climate change. The €1.3 billion available through the national development plan has allowed a trebling since 2018 of schemes at design and construction stage to some 100 schemes. Today, the OPW has work completed or under way to manage the flood risk to 80% of the at-risk properties nationwide . The Government acted swiftly last week to put in place supports to those homes and businesses affected by flooding events in Louth and other locations. Again, I want to express my sympathies to those who were adversely impacted by the flooding.This is a very important issue. I am sure everyone would join Senator McGahon in conveying our sympathies to the people who have been affected.

I also welcome Oisín Kelly, a transition year student from Coláiste Rís, formerly Dundalk CBS, who is here doing work experience with Senator McGahon. I hope Oisín has a great experience in Leinster House. We may be looking at a future politician.