On 23 January we debated storm damage and flooding, which preceded the events of this weekend. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Costello, took that debate. I have great regard for the Minister of State on a personal level but he had no answers for us whatsoever. He said so on the day. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, who took the debate on the Bill before that debate and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, are the Ministers responsible for this area.

If anyone checks the Official Report they will see that the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, said in response to me and other Senators that he did not expect to answer questions here on that issue. That is not acceptable. I asked specific questions which are still relevant, to know whether the Minster of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, or the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, has met the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Mr. Johannes Hahn, and whether the Government intends to apply for additional funding under the EU solidarity fund that the previous Government used in 2009.

I do not know why Senator Gilroy is jumping up and down. Maybe when he is in Europe he can talk to-----

The Senator should address the Leader.

We will not hold our breath for that.

I thank the Senator for the vote of confidence.

Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

It is a very serious issue.

It is in this regard first.

The Senator, without interruption.

Frankly, there was no point to that debate on 23 January because no answers were given and there has been no follow-up. I got more answers in the ante-room from the officials than I got from the Minister of State. I do not blame him for that but, as it is not his portfolio, why was he here? He came in here to read a statement. That is the first point.

The Taoiseach is intimating that we will apply under the EU Solidarity Fund. If the Taoiseach is aware of the conditions attaching to the fund, however, he will realise the application will not be successful because the level of damage is not sufficient for the country to apply for it. In addition, on the day the Government announced the emergency fund of €45 million, 20 January, I asked the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, whether that was separate to the normal annual funding of the OPW for coastal erosion and flooding measures. I got the answer from the official that, no, it is not separate and that the annual OPW budget for this is being put into that €45 million emergency fund, so any work that was going to happen during the course of the year is in that fund already. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, then announced on Monday an additional €10 million fund to assist people who have been flooded over the weekend in Limerick, Cork and the north west. We all know that is not sufficient. Is the €10 million he is referring to part of the €45 million or is it a separate fund under the Department of Social Protection?

To have all of these questions remaining unanswered tells me the Government in this instance does not know what is going on and does not know where it is going to apply for funding or who is responsible for it. Unfortunately, we are going to have other weather events over the next few days and the situation is going to get worse. To seek the answers that I asked-----

The Senator is over time.

I am just finished. On 23 January, when I asked specific questions, the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, gave a commitment that he, through the officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, would come back and answer those specific questions. That has not happened. Because of that, I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business today that the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, or the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, would come into this House for one hour only to answer specific questions with regard to how we are going to compensate people and remediate and improve our flood defences in the short term, and to answer the questions I put to the House on 23 January that remain unanswered.