I have a question to the Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and flood relief, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran. I know he has committed to travelling to Donegal in the near future to meet with residents of Ellen Park in Buncrana with regard to funding for flood defences along the Crana river. As the Minister of State saw, very serious damage was done in August 2017 and Elm Park was very badly flooded as well as Cockhill Celtic Football Club and many businesses and homes in the area along the Crana river. The flood review has identified the need for a flood defence there but it needs to be funded. Can the Minister of State confirm today that he will be coming to Donegal in the near future? Can he also confirm that he will look at the need for funding for this project and several others in Donegal, which has experienced extensive flooding? I note this particularly in light of the storm coming this evening. As the Minister of State well knows, the residents will be exceptionally nervous at such a time and it is essential that funding is allocated to this.

My question is also addressed to the Minister, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, and concerns flooding. It is only 3 October. As the Minister of State knows from his own part of the country, there is widespread flooding. Several farmers are already in major difficulty. People are extremely nervous. I live in the real world and I know that the Minister of State cannot stop the rain from falling. However, I note that the rainfall has been incessant and its pattern has completely changed. The total rainfall of two or three weeks in years gone can now happen in half a day.

This is the reality. On this basis, is it time we changed the goalposts? We will have huge problems unless we tackle this matter head on. Many people will be left in distress. In County Roscommon, 35 or 40 farmers near Lough Funshinagh who had never been affected now cannot farm. They cannot do their daily business because roads are blocked. Houses and sheds will be in serious bother because they will be flooded. We need some type of action very quickly.

I thank the Deputies for their questions. With regard to the Donegal region, Deputy McConalogue knows I was up there when the flooding took place and he knows the level of funding we secured for the local authority. We announced a great number of schemes that are being led by local authorities. Since then, I have asked the local authorities engineers to speed up the process of delivering the schemes. Given the number of schemes already on their books, it would be impossible for local authorities to secure those people's homes merely by being given more funding. The funding is there but they do not have the resources to do the work. We have to be fair to the local authorities by letting them do the work they are doing under the scheme we have announced. They have appointed engineers and are getting on with the job. I will visit Deputy McConalogue's area very shortly and we are fixing a date. We have a date in mind and I will let the Deputy know in due course.

To respond to Deputy Eugene Murphy, what course can we change? In the past two months, 450 mm of rain fell in the Athenry area. Other parts of the country had 220 mm or 250 mm of rain. Since I came into Government we have announced €1 billion in funding. No Government in the history of the State has announced such money to protect people. We announced 95 schemes. We appointed engineers and consultants. We have gone through the planning process. In some cases, I will hand back money at the end of this year because of people objecting to the delivery of schemes. Take the Tánaiste's area of Cork. A total of €200 million that was to be invested in the area has faced objections.