More rain fell in parts of County Cork in a few hours yesterday than would normally fall in a month. Midleton, Castlemartyr, Glanmire, Killeagh, Cloyne, Whitegate, Blackpool, west Waterford and other places all experienced devastation to one degree or another. In Midleton, patients had to be evacuated from a hospital and children had to be carried out of a childcare centre by parents via piggyback. In Glanmire, Sarsfields GAA club allowed its pitch to flood to protect the wider community. The pitch, the drainage, the offices and the walls were all destroyed. We won a county. We lost a pitch but, hopefully, saved part of the community.

The Taoiseach is due to arrive in Midleton in 20 minutes' time. He will don the raincoat and wellingtons, pose for the cameras and say the right things. Come tonight, he will be gone and the devastation will be left behind. The Government will be judged not by the quality of the photo opportunity but by the quality of the relief operation, the speed and size of the compensation package and, crucially, on the actions taken now on flood defences. Again and again, in town after town and community after community, people are saying that the defences they were promised have not been put in place and the State's response is not keeping up with the climate threat. Spain and Greece have been hit by heatwaves and Canada has been swept by wildfires, but in this country, and in our county, the biggest threat is the rain and the floods.

The OPW organised the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme in 2018. Some €1.3 billion has been provided for the years from 2021 to 2030, which is €144 million annually. Does the programme need to be redone now, with updated climate models? I think more finance needs to be put aside and greater urgency needs to be shown in actioning the plan.

Great praise is due to the public sector workers who pitched in during this emergency. For the information of the Tánaiste, however, the workers who clean the gullies for Cork City Council have been asking and pleading for years now for simple tools like angle grinders to open up the gullies and for more staff and more vehicles, to little or no avail. The firefighters who intervened in Midleton yesterday should have had swift water rescue technician training, but they do not. They were not trained for such a scenario and were forced to take unnecessary risks. When is the State going to give these workers the backing, support, training and tools they deserve?

The Deputy spoke about flood relief schemes. He may recall his own comments in relation to the Cork city flood relief scheme, where he described the OPW's proposals as crude and not taking into account the people of Cork's relationship with the River Lee. He backed the campaign to, essentially, undermine the OPW's programme of flood relief. I have no problem with people making submissions and trying to adjust and adapt schemes, but when this goes to the extent of delaying schemes for years, then I do have a problem. When the OPW does respond, change and adapt schemes, then I have a real problem.

There is about €1.3 billion in the national development plan, NDP, for flood relief schemes. The flood relief scheme design that has emerged from Glanmire is under construction now. I pay tribute to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, because he drove that initiative prior to getting elected. He made it a campaign issue for himself. Those works are now under construction. To be fair to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, he did work hard to put that project on the agenda with others.

In Cork city, the flood relief scheme has now been going on for years because of objections ending up in court and so on. People must have balance and perspective. Cork has been flooding since I was growing up. The quay walls have not been properly addressed. What is being proposed is excellent in terms of the public realm improvements such work would represent, as well as preventing flooding in the city centre. Yet there are objections. In Blackpool, an area Deputy Barry knows well, again there has been an inability to resolve the problems there and it is going the full distance in terms of objections to the flood relief scheme. If we were to talk to the traders and the people who live in Blackpool, they would tell us they have had numerous floods.

The funding is there and the schemes are designed but it is just taking far too long in terms of the planning process, in my view, with objections and people not looking at these proposals from a balanced perspective. We must weigh things up. We are not going to get the perfect solution. We all have subjective views as to what constitutes the best type of flooding scheme, but we are not all self-appointed experts either. There comes a stage when it is necessary to facilitate the construction of flood relief schemes that would make a huge difference. Where they have been put in, in Clonmel, in Fermoy and in Mallow, they have been effective.

True.

In Douglas, close to where I live, there was a terrible once-in-a-century flood and the scheme there worked yesterday. On the Owenacurra river, a flood scheme is emerging for Midleton. Again, we want to see these developed. The money is there to get these projects done. I do not make these points to try to attack anybody or anything like that, but only to point out some realities and the need for an honest debate about this subject. I think adaptation is the key issue for the country in respect of climate change now. We are dealing with the causes of climate change but it is happening here and now.

I thank the Tánaiste. The time is up.

Getting one month's rain in a day means we have to adapt faster. This means we have to put in the flooding schemes much faster and society has to respond in that spirit.

Yes. If we are to be ahead of the curve here, and we see what is coming in terms of climate change, then in Cork city we need to be looking at options like a flood barrier. There are many experts, and I am referring to people who are qualified to speak on this subject and not lay people, who have said this is the way to go. I strongly urge the OPW and the Government to look at this possibility as an option. In Blackpool, I believe there are alternative ways of dealing with this issue, which would protect the wildlife and the village as well. These should be examined as well.

The final point I wish to make is on the question of insurance. Two days ago, Allianz Insurance announced profits of €50 million, which was an increase of 12%. FBD's pre-tax profits are up to €39 million for the first six months of 2023. We have a fabulously profitable insurance industry that refuses to cover homes and businesses at significant risk of flooding.

Homes and businesses have the right to insurance cover. We need not-for-profit insurance cover in this country. In my view, the industry needs to be taken into public ownership.

We will look at all of those issues in both schemes we have for flood relief, including the humanitarian aid scheme and the scheme for business. With regard to Midleton, there is a total project budget for the flood relief scheme of approximately €50 million. The option has emerged for Midleton to protect 250 properties and that will provide protection in flooding from the Dungourney and Owenacurra rivers. The environmental impact assessment is being prepared for the preferred option. Hopefully, planning will happen in the first part of early 2024. We need that to go through in respect to the project.

The Deputy referenced to a visit. It is important that the Government, that is the Minister for Finance and the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, would go down to see it. We will follow through with supports for businesses and for households, and see what we can do to be of assistance. This is a very severe flooding event. Of that there is no doubt.