Yesterday morning in Cork I spoke to a number of business people whose businesses have been ruined by the flooding that affected the city centre the previous night. I was in Limerick later that afternoon and I spoke about it to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes. I was impressed with his response. However, he must now match the urgency of his words with the urgency of his actions. I invite him to Cork to see, at first hand, the devastation of much of the city centre and to explain to the business people what he plans to do. Many of the businesses in the city centre that have been affected have been unable to secure insurance since the last flooding four or five years ago. I call on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, to intervene and ensure that some of the hard-pressed businesses, which have been going through a very difficult time recently, are given some type of rates break at this time. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, is the man who can deliver such a thing. The scenes in Cork and Limerick yesterday were pitiful, but I call attention to the quiet dignity shown by the people in the area. It is very commendable.

The local authorities must continue to do what they can. Sandbags should be made available immediately today because there is a severe risk that Cork city centre will be affected by flooding again tonight. We must put a strategy in place in the immediate term to offset the worst effects of the anticipated flooding.

I second Senator Darragh O'Brien's proposed amendment to the Order of Business with regard to flooding. I agree with Senator Gilroy about the tragedies we have seen throughout Cork and Limerick, with businesses and people put out of their homes. This is replicated nationwide. As I said a couple of weeks ago regarding the other storm, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are cases throughout the western seaboard. To give an example, in Bundoran and south Donegal, rock armour was thrown around as if by a juggler in a circus ring. It was phenomenal. It was thrown into car parks. The many surf schools that operate all year round cannot get to where they carry out their business, so there is an employment issue too. In Strandhill and Rosses Point in Sligo two golf courses are at risk because of substantial erosion that has been exacerbated as a result of the recent storms. According to the front page of The Sligo Champion today, in west Sligo the McDermott family are completely cut off from their house because of the amount of rock and debris thrown up by the ocean. This is replicated on the coastline all along the western seaboard. Obviously, there are very serious concerns in Cork and Limerick about businesses and people out of their homes, but the north west is also affected.

The bottom line is that the minor works scheme, even if it is €250 million over the term of this Government, is not sufficient to deal adequately with this issue. We must get more funds. Whether they must be diverted from other areas, and I know they are scarce at this time, or we get them from Europe, they must be secured and these coastal communities must be dealt with. Clearly, the type of rock armour used in this country is not sufficient for the modern weather challenges with which we are presented. We have seen that with the flood supports in Limerick and Cork against the Shannon and the Lee and with the coastal supports against the Atlantic Ocean inflicting the full brunt of its power on Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and other communities.

Today is World Cancer Day. As we speak, the European Cancer Concord is launching a cancer bill of rights. It will be introduced and launched by Professor Patrick Johnston, a cancer specialist at Queen's University. Three people die from this disease every minute. There were 14 million new cases globally last year and 24 years hence there will be one fatality every ten seconds. We are losing the battle with cancer. This would be an appropriate time to review our national cancer control programme, which has celebrated some successes but which remains flawed in tackling this battle, particularly for the people who happen to live north of a line from Dublin to Galway.