I dtús báire, is mian liom mo dhlúthpháirtíocht a chur in iúl do mhuintir Chorcaí agus pobal iarthar Phort Láirge sna ceantair sin inar tharla tubaiste tromchúiseach inné nuair a bhí tuillte ansin. Bhí tionchar mór ag na tuillte ar go leor tithí agus gnóthaí ar fud an cheantair sin agus bhí go leor damáiste déanta. I take the opportunity to extend my solidarity, and that of my party, to the people of Cork and west Waterford who experienced serious flooding yesterday. I commend all of those who were on the front line trying to save businesses, homes, and indeed, people, in their efforts. Many homes and businesses have been impacted and there has been very serious damage. The town of Midleton is the epicentre of this disastrous flooding and locals are describing it as the worst in living memory. Households and businesses are seriously damaged, roads are completely impassable, schools and local services for vulnerable people are badly impacted, and many homes are without power. A boil water notice is also in place and water stations have been set up in the Gaelscoil. It is a very tough time for the communities affected but their community spirit has shone through. Just one example of that is Sarsfields GAA club, which, in an effort to protect its community, made the decision to open its floodgates and have seen its pitch destroyed and clubhouse damaged. I know the Taoiseach is due to arrive in Cork around now and I hope he tells the community there that it will have the full support of the Government in recovering, rebuilding and putting in place the protections against the impacts of future storms.

We are fortunate that no lives were lost, given the fact that elderly citizens in hospitals right through to toddlers in crèches were left in flood waters. Many of the homes and businesses affected have no flood protection insurance so there is an urgent need to ensure emergency funding is provided to the local authorities involved and to the individual families and businesses. I ask the Tánaiste that all emergency funding necessary will be made available without delay. Will he spell out what that will look like and when it will be made available? We know parts of County Cork are prone to flooding. The Tánaiste knows this well. Yet, flood relief works are continually being delayed. In Glanmire, which was once again hit by serious floods yesterday, the people of that area have been crying out for flood protection for over 20 years. The delays of the flood relief scheme, which spent years sitting on the Minister's desk, have come home to roost. These types of delays need to be addressed. That scheme disgracefully took three years to receive ministerial consent and because of those delays, work has only just now started. It is not good enough and many residents will justifiably be feeling angered about that this morning.

I am sure the Tánaiste agrees that we also need engagement between the Government, Met Éireann and local authorities to develop a more localised warning system. That would be a very positive step. Does the Tánaiste accept there could have been more of a concerted effort to ensure that families and businesses were sufficiently warned of yesterday's flooding? What will the Tánaiste do to ensure other flood protection schemes will be expedited so that the risk can be minimised in those parts of Cork most prone to flooding? Crucially, as families, businesses and communities wake up to the devastation of the floods that took place and which gripped their communities yesterday, those people who have seen their homes and businesses devastated by the flooding want to know they will not be made to jump through hoops and go through all of this red tape to access emergency funding. When will they get the vital support? Will the Tánaiste spell out to people who do not have flood insurance because these communities were hit before by floods, what will happen, what support will be provided by Government and when will it meet them on the ground?

Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil brú faoi leith ar mhuintir na tíre go háirithe i gCorcaigh agus i bPort Láirge de bharr an méid báistí a thit inné. Bhí sé uafásach ar fad agus tá daoine ag fulaingt dá dheasca sin. Táimid ag déanamh gach aon iarracht chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do mhuintir na dúiche, i Mainistir na Corann ach go háirithe, agus i nGleann Maghair agus i lár chathair Chorcaí. I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. Our immediate thoughts are with the households and businesses affected by the fierce flooding yesterday, particularly in County Cork, Cork city and west Waterford. It has been very distressing for many people. We are deeply concerned about what has transpired and I thank all the volunteers, the Civil Defence, the local authorities and the Defence Forces personnel who were deployed from mid-afternoon yesterday to the locations and particularly to Midleton, for the work they did. I also thank Sarsfields GAA club, which incidentally won the county final last Sunday against Midleton, for opening up its pitch to save a housing estate from flooding. We will make sure we work with the club to help it in any way possible because that is the kind of intervention that makes a huge difference to a community. It was quick decision-making and we applaud that action. Sarsfields is the club of the late Teddy McCarthy and has an outstanding tradition of serving its community.

The humanitarian assistance scheme is available to provide support to those living in properties directly affected by the flooding. A fund of €10 million is already in place for this scheme. It prevents hardship by providing support to people whose homes are damaged by severe weather. We will work with the local community on this and the Department of Social Protection is liaising on the ground with the people affected to make sure they have access to the help they need. If any homeowner affected by Storm Babet needs to access these supports, they can contact community welfare service by phone. We will outline the numbers and so forth. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has an emergency humanitarian flooding scheme, administered by the Irish Red Cross, which is available to small businesses with up to 20 employees, for community, voluntary and sporting bodies. The Taoiseach is going down today and the Minister for Finance is also visiting, as is the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, OPW. We will examine the situation, assess it, and the Government will meet next week to see what additional work it can do to support the community.

The Deputy referenced the flood relief schemes. To be fair, the Government is in office three years. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan prioritised the flood relief scheme for Glanmire and worked with the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy McGrath, at the time to get it onto the agenda. There are many flood schemes out there. Construction began in July this year. There is a lot of design stuff and so forth. That flood relief scheme is to protect approximately 103 properties from flooding from the Glashaboy river and will take 32 months to complete. The OPW is also working on a scheme in Blackpool to protect 293 properties. The total project budget is some €21 million. Again, that was approved in March 2021 and the decision was challenged by Save Our Bride Otters, an organisation which wanted to protect the otter population there, and that has resulted in further information being requested from the OPW in support of requests for consent under the Act. The city's flood relief scheme has been delayed for a considerable length of time by civil society groups which have different views, notwithstanding all of the submissions and so on.

We are way over time.

There is an issue but continuing objections that lack balance and perspective in the process are delaying many flood relief schemes across the country and that needs to be faced up to, not just by Government but by the entire House. We need balance and perspective in all of these matters.

So in Midleton.

I made the point that the Glanmire flood relief scheme was announced in 2016. The floods happened in 2012 and it took three years for ministerial consent. Nobody in the community is opposing it or objecting to it. They desperately need it and they were hit again yesterday with devastating floods. The Tánaiste spoke about humanitarian assistance funding. It is means-tested. Will the Tánaiste outline that people in the community who have means above the €30,000 threshold will not be getting 100% support for the damage again caused to their homes? Will there be a look at this threshold? These communities have been left at the mercy of the elements because the schemes have not been put in place. Places where schemes have been put in place are being protected. We know it works. Will the Tánaiste address this issue? With regard to businesses, will the Tánaiste outline when additional supports will be made available to them? The Tánaiste mentioned Sarsfields GAA club. Donegal has had experience of this where we have had floods.

The time is up.

I will finish on this point. Many community facilities took years to be replaced. Sarsfields summed it up in one quote, "'We won a county, lost a pitch but hopefully saved a part of the Glanmire community."

Thank you Deputy.

Now it is time for the Government to step up and support not only Sarsfields GAA but also other facilities, including our hospitals, crèches, businesses and households-----

The Deputy is way over time.

-----very quickly without delay. Crucially we need to speed forward the types of schemes that will protect communities in the medium to long term.

Will Members please adhere to the allotted time?

There is no doubt that businesses have been severely affected, in Midleton in particular. Deputy James O'Connor was at the scene very quickly yesterday evening. He related to me how severe it was on businesses and households. As I said earlier in my reply, we are examining what level of intervention we can make in respect of supporting the households and businesses that have been undoubtedly affected.

We have always been strong supporters of Sars down through the years through various sports capital grants. Given its intervention on this occasion we will not be found wanting. The wider community through Civil Defence and Defence Forces personnel are still there. We applaud what they are doing. There are also all those volunteers from businesses whose employees came out in Midleton and elsewhere to help. It was very severe. It is estimated that one month's rain fell in a couple of hours. I repeat that we need an honest debate on the flood relief schemes. Approximately 95 are either at design stage, under construction or in planning.

Thank you, Tánaiste.

A total of 53 have been completed. Where they have been completed they are working to prevent damage. We have to bear this in mind and have an honest debate about it