The storms of the past week, in particular, have devastated families, homes, businesses, farms and entire towns. Storm Desmond has wreaked havoc and caused severe dislocation in Bandon, County Cork, and in Ballinasloe, Ballybofey and Crossmolina, in particular. There has been a very serious impact, and potential impact, on the entire Shannon region and in a number of counties beyond that region. Roads, schools and many facilities remain closed as a result of the damage caused.

Having listened and spoken to councillors across the country, I believe it is difficult for those who are not affected to comprehend the impact of the storms on so many communities and the depth of destruction. The problem is that some of these communities have been hit before, both in 2009 and 2013. As a result, many people cannot get insurance. The affected communities are very angry and feel let down by the Government and authorities in general. They feel there is a lack of urgency and proactivity in prioritising the capital flood relief works. Some 1,500 people marched in Bandon last evening. Councillor Margaret Murphy O'Mahony rang me to say enough is enough, thereby summing up the problem. The councillor was very clear on that and has been speaking to many people in her community.

What is worrying is that the funding allocated for flood relief works remains unspent to a significant degree. For 2015, some €87 million was provided.

A question, please.

Some €60 million or €61 million of that was capital, but up to the end of October only €35 million of the allocation was actually spent. Incredibly, the budget for 2016 is €73 million, with only €44 million for capital works. Therefore, the Government is to spend less in 2016 than was provided in 2015. That is what gives rise to people feeling there is a lack of real proactivity and urgency.

Deputy Keaveney questioned the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Simon Harris, over a month ago on the circumstances in Peterswell and the need for drainage works there.

The Minister of State replied that money was not provided because no one could see the benefit of doing so. If the Taoiseach were to speak to people in the area now, they would tell him about the benefits that would have accrued. If the money had been spent on relatively minor works, it would have spared schools and houses the significant damage that has been done.

Will the Taoiseach indicate when flood relief works in the worst affected areas will proceed? Will the Government introduce emergency measures to address the lack of access to insurance and enable people to deal with this matter? How does the Government propose to allocate humanitarian relief funding? In previous episodes of flooding the money did not reach people. There is anxiety about how this funding will be administered.

I thank Deputy Martin for his comments. This is an ongoing situation and it is not the first time it has happened. On behalf of everybody in the House, I empathise with those whose homes and businesses have been devastated by the impact of serious flooding and those involved in agriculture whose lands have been flooded, causing difficulties for the movement and feeding of stock and so on. We should also express our sympathy to the family of the late Ivan Vaughan, who was caught in the flood waters in Caledon, County Tyrone.

Most areas are on high alert. The River Shannon is slow moving and it takes a number of days for the situation to evolve. Ballina was on high alert because people feared that high tide and surging waters would result in the river walls being breached, although that did not happen. Rainfall for November was more than 50% above average and the Office of Public Works reported that many rivers were at bank level before the rainfall started on Friday. November was a wet month in many areas and the ground was exceptionally saturated. One fifth of the country drains through the River Shannon. It is expected that the lower estuary will be in spate and flood later this week. Further episodes of rain and wind are forecast and there may well be further instances and episodes of flooding. Experience indicates that the waters will not recede for days, weeks and, in some cases, months. Local authorities and supporting agencies remain on high alert in terms of response, and the national co-ordination committee meets again today to discuss threat assessments at national level.

In the past 20 years, Governments invested €410 million in flood relief schemes. In comparison, more than €430 million will be spent on managing flood risk in the coming six years as part of the capital programme that has been set out. This will fund schemes that are either under construction or at design stage, with flood relief works to be carried out in various locations. Flood relief schemes in Mallow, Fermoy, Clonmel and other areas have been successful, although weather may dictate heavier rainfall at different times in these towns.

I met the chairman of the national co-ordination group yesterday to receive a report and discussed the matter with the Minister for Defence, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris. The Government also considered the matter at today's Cabinet meeting and a number of actions were taken immediately. The Department of Social Protection has in place a humanitarian fund of €10 million for homes that have been affected by flooding. This funding was sanctioned by the Government in 2012 but was not drawn down. It is available for emergency assistance and will be deployed. Community welfare officers are calling to homes in towns that were flooded, including Crossmolina and Bandon. Staff from the Department of Social Protection are on the ground in the affected areas and a three-stage process is in place for immediate relief. The first stage involves determining whether a house is habitable, the second involves providing cash to meet basic requirements, and the third is a longer-term assessment of the house once the flood waters have been pumped out or removed.

This morning, the Government allocated €5 million to be distributed as emergency assistance to small businesses that have suffered flood damage and which, through no fault of their own, were unable to take out flood insurance. I expect that assessments will take place in the coming days with a view to making arrangements to provide whatever assistance can be given in the immediate future.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has introduced a number of measures to deal with the movement of animals from flooded land, to sensitively take into account flood damage when carrying out farm inspections, and in respect of making arrangements for the transportation of slurry from flooded slurry tanks. The Government will receive a full report this week and again at its meeting next week on the damage and scale of what has taken place, including in respect of roads, bridges and other structures that have not yet been assessed, in the same way as when major storms hit just a few years ago.

I again empathise with people facing difficulties only a few weeks before Christmas. The immediate response is as I have outlined for Deputy Martin.

I genuinely do not want to make a political issue out of this. The Taoiseach gave a good weather forecast, and it is important that people know what is coming down the tracks, but I get the sense in the towns that have been affected that people want to know when action will be taken. The relief scheme for Bandon, which was badly flooded in 2009, has not been carried out and the capital works have not been put in place. A report in the Irish Examiner from 27 February 2014, referring to a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, noted the following: "The slow-paced attempts to protect vulnerable communities after the January 2014 storms ravaged the country were revealed by officials tasked with overseeing the funding yesterday." The phrase "slow-paced attempts" sums up the official response to the flooding crisis.

In the context of the Taoiseach's uninspiring speech on climate change in Paris there is a real sense that the Government does not get what is happening. It must dramatically upgrade this issue in terms of its priorities. The Taoiseach summed it up when he stated that most of the €10 million humanitarian relief scheme introduced in 2012 had not been drawn down. The scheme is not working, as anybody in the areas affected will agree. I remember sending off hundreds of applications for funding in Cork city after a dam was opened during a flood, but no one received anything. There is no confidence in the humanitarian relief scheme and people will not even bother applying for it. There is no point in the Taoiseach's stating that the Government provided €10 million for a scheme in 2012 but no one drew down the funding or that the scheme is still in place. Something is not working.

New measures are needed to address the insurance issue. They could include joint Government-backed insurance programmes for flood areas. Even in areas such as Clonmel, which is in a better position than previously as a result of a good flood relief scheme, people continue to find it difficult to get insurance. The key issue is that less will be spent on capital relief works next year than was spent last year. That sums up the lack of prioritisation.

We are way over time. The Deputy should ask a question.

Will the Taoiseach indicate whether capital works will proceed and what the timescale involved will be?

Deputy Keaveney's parliamentary question to the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, specified works that were to be done. If these works had been done, much of the damage that has occurred could have been averted. Will the Taoiseach undertake to have this matter reviewed and an inquiry carried out into how this situation was allowed to unfold?

I disagree with the Deputy's statement that he gets the sense that the Government does not appreciate this. Does he not understand that we have had reports collated from local authorities and people on the ground whose homes and businesses have been flooded as well as from many other sources?

The schemes that are at the construction stage are those for the River Wad in Clanmoyle, Dublin, which is nearly completed; Fermoy south in Cork, where the scheme has been completed and is operational; Ennis lower, which has been completed; Waterford, phases 2, 3 and 4, which are substantially completed; south Campshire in Dublin, which is to be completed in 2016; Bray, which is to be completed in late 2016 or early 2017; and the River Dodder, phases 2c, 2d and 2e, which are also to be completed in 2016 or early 2017.

Schemes that are likely to go to construction in 2016 include Templemore, Claregalway, Bandon, County Cork, Skibbereen, County Cork and Foynes, County Limerick. Deputies will have heard the Minister of State clarify that we lost two years with legal objections to the tender process for Bandon. While people are perfectly entitled to make objections, those have now been overcome and the Minister of State has given his commitment on the matter.

I do not think that is good enough.

Sorry, please. We are over time.

In respect of the capital works, the tender documentation issued to a shortlist of contractors.

They are building walls in Clontarf as well.

They are due back in early January for Bandon. The assessment process will take place. The scheme will be constructed between 2016 and 2018. The main elements include new walls and embankments; excavating the channel by approximately 1.6 m for a distance of 3.5 km; replacement of the pedestrian bridge; underpinning Bandon Bridge; construction of new fish passages; and the associated drainage works, including new pump stations. That is in place.

There is a scheme designed for Crossmolina but the town had its worst flooding in 52 years with the result that the bridge through the centre of the town is incapable of taking flood waters and may have to be replaced completely.

Clean the river.

The Office of Public Works is currently refining a preferred option for the Crossmolina flood relief scheme.

Clean the Deel.

The humanitarian process to address the situation on the part of the Department of Social Protection is already in place. There are three phases. There is an immediate assessment if people have to be moved to accommodation. Then there is provision of cash for the immediate situation in any house as well as a longer-term analysis when the water is pumped out. The same will apply in respect of assessments on the €5 million allocated for businesses in the towns. This is now open in respect of Crossmolina, Bandon and the other locations flooded in recent days.

A sum of €10,000 would be a good start.

Next week, we will have a further report on other areas that have been damaged, including bridges and roads and so on.