Business owners in Midleton are meeting this morning to try to plan for the future. Last week one month's worth of rain fell in the town in the space of 24 hours, causing utter devastation. I welcome that the Government has moved quickly to put in place an enhanced scheme for businesses, with up to €100,000 in support now available. Work needs to be done to ensure these funds can be drawn down quickly and that red tape is eliminated. I am concerned about the relatively low level of support available for homeowners, many of whom have lost everything in these floods. Residents in Beechwood Drive told the Irish Examiner they feel abandoned. They do not know how they can rebuild and move on from this disaster, when they do not have insurance cover or access to State support. Yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced an additional €3 million in support for homeowners, but it is doubtful whether this will be enough to meet the huge need that exists following this disaster. Many homeowners in counties Cork and Waterford are utterly confused about the qualifying criteria. They have received no information about how they can apply for support or what they are entitled to. The grim reality of climate change is that the number of extreme weather events is going to increase. We are completely unprepared for that inevitability. The people of Midleton have been waiting almost a decade for a flood defence scheme. It could be another decade before it is in place. The scheme has not even gone to planning yet. There are other things the Government could be doing. Natural flood defences can be installed in tandem with necessary engineering solutions. Unfortunately, because of shortsighted decision-making in recent decades, rivers have been stripped of their natural defences. Planning has been granted for building on floodplains. Ditches, culverts, hedgerows and tree cover have been removed, peat bogs have been drained and poorly planned concrete flood defences have been installed. All of these simply push flooding downstream at top speed. Restoring these natural flood defences, which help the land store water and slow the course of rivers upstream, is absolutely essential if we want to minimise the risk of flood damage.

I have three questions for the Taoiseach. Can the Government guarantee that the enhanced scheme for businesses and homeowners in flood impacted areas will be easily accessible and adequately funded? What is the realistic timeline for the completion of flood defence works in Midleton? Does the Taoiseach think it is time to come up with a national land use plan? Will the Government, in doing that, incentivise landowners, and how does it plan to do so? Does it recognise the need to do that as opposed to just putting in place piecemeal, massive, concrete flood infrastructure without an overall plan for the flow of water?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is of enormous importance to people in counties Cork and Waterford and the other parts of the country affected by flooding, not just in the past few weeks but also in recent years. I had the chance to visit Midleton last week, which is a town I know well. I have seen a lot of flood damage in my time, but this was at a different scale. The floodwaters were up to my arm. It was not just water. There was dirt, mud and sewage. A huge amount of damage was done. I have seen other floods where people in houses or shops could save their belongings or stock by bringing it upstairs or putting it up high. That was just not possible for a large number of people because of the scale and speed of the flood, which in some cases broke the glass windows of shopfronts. That is something I had not seen before. That is why the Government responded with its decision on Tuesday to put in place a business scheme under which people will get €5,000 upfront to help with the immediate costs of clean up and repair. There is then a scheme of as much as €20,000, up to €100,000 in some cases, where people have lost their stock. This is of course for businesses that tried to get flood insurance, but despite their best efforts could not because of where their premises are located. Homeowners will get the help they need. This also applies to rental properties, which is a change we made on Tuesday. It is means tested, but the means test has been relaxed. It is important to bear in mind that if you are over the means test amount - roughly €50,000 for a single person and €90,000 for a couple - it will not be the case that you get nothing. You get 100% if you are under that amount. If you are above the means test amount, you have to make a contribution. Even people on very good incomes will get some help with repairs to their properties, the replacement of white goods and so on. We will make it as simple as possible. Staff from the Department of Social Protection and community welfare officers have already gone door to door. They have already paid the first additional grants to a lot of residents. The Irish Red Cross will be doing the same. That will all be up and running this week. On the social protection side, it was up and running right away. We will try to make it as simple as possible, but there have to be checks and balances. This is ultimately taxpayers' money. As we sadly learned even during the pandemic, there were irregularities with the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment. We have to bear in mind that this is taxpayers' money and make sure there are some checks and balances. However, we will try to minimise that as much as possible.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, had a good meeting yesterday with Cork County Council on the flood relief scheme. I am due to receive the report on that today. It is still intended to get the flood relief scheme into planning next year, but these are complex schemes that take a lot of time and are often challenged and opposed at An Bord Pleanála and in court. We have 50 done and they have worked. There are 90 in the pipeline. We are getting these done.

I agree with the Deputy that we need a land use plan for Ireland. We are working on that at the moment. It is being led by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett. Other Departments are also involved in that.

Based on his reply, I think the Taoiseach understands the impact on the community in Midleton. Bearing that in mind, he can also understand how stressful- and anxiety-inducing it is to know that might happen again and again. They are waiting a decade for flood relief works and it will be another decade before they are introduced. A lot of impacts go with that. I know from my own constituency that if you cannot get insurance, there is not only the fear of not being able to afford to rebuild your home or life, but you might also not be able to get finance to build an extension. It has a massive and far-reaching impact. I am glad the Taoiseach has said he is looking at a national land use plan. Ultimately, what we have with regard to climate change is that the tap is on. The approach so far has been to keep mopping the water off the floor when the tap is running. Maybe we replace the floor and build a wall around the sink. We do not actually turn the tap off, however, which is what we need to do. We have had so many developments built on floodplains and consistent deforestation. Our agriculture policy is driving the opposite of what the Taoiseach is talking about in terms of addressing what is happening. There has been no attempt to move towards this. Will the Taoiseach please acknowledge that all of those things have to change in order to reassure communities like Midleton and other places in counties Cork and Waterford? Will he acknowledge that the overall approach of Government has to change in order to address climate change, because it is here?

I was struck by some of the people I met, who told me they were affected by the floods in 2015.

Nobody could give them a guarantee it would not happen again in a few months' or a few years' time, long before the flood relief scheme is in place. We will push that as quickly as we can. We have 50 done. They worked in Bandon, Douglas, Togher and in the Tolka in Dublin. We know they work, and we have about 90 more in train.

I agree with the Deputy’s basic point. We have to look at this in the round. It is not just about flood barriers. We have to consider the impact inappropriate land use can have on flooding and drainage, as well as coastal protections. A memo went to Government yesterday from the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, around how we will manage the change that is happening to our coastline. Some of it has been happening for millennia, while some is linked to climate change. I agree we will all have to have a greater focus on adaptation as part of climate action. Climate change is a reality. Even if the world reaches net zero by 2050 - and it might not – there is much more climate change to come. It is baked in. It is going to get worse and there is going to be more of it. While reducing our emissions will make a small contribution to slowing down climate change, the most effective thing we can do to protect our people, property and infrastructure is adaptation. We will need a greater focus on that in the time ahead.

Enough time has passed to point out that is a silent phone. Not looking at any particular side of the House, but I would appreciate if Deputies could remember to put their phones on silent. Go raibh maith agaibh.