In the aftermath of Storm Emma we have been left with considerable chaos with respect to two topics I wish to raise today. Both relate to shortages, the first a shortage of water and the second a shortage of blood. Regarding water shortages, we have learned from the Kennedy analysis that we have a 57% leakage rate in Dublin. We know that Dublin's pipes are ancient, corroded, full of holes and generally not fit for purpose. We also know that in London, which has leakage rates of less than half of what we have in Dublin, they are replacing their old Victorian water mains. To date, Irish Water has no such plans. Instead it is planning on a mega project to pump water 172 km from the River Shannon to Dublin. No doubt this is a great plan which would give us a sustainable water source into the future, but surely we need to start replacing our old water mains and Victorian pipes at the very least. What is the point in pumping water into leaky pipes? It does not make any sense.

Dublin 12, 8 and 6W have some of the oldest pipes in the city, which corresponds with the fact that Dublin 12, 8 and 6W have some of the oldest and most beautiful homes in the city, and they have been most affected by the water shortages to date. Local shops in Dublin South-Central have literally run out of bottled water, a sight one would not see in Third World countries. There has been some confusion of late in the media regarding the use of the word "demand". People are not using more water. On average, Irish people use less water than households in the UK. The term is being used interchangeably with the term "leakages". The recent weather and the result of freeze-thaw action has seen a further deterioration in old Dublin pipes and drains.

I call on the Government to make a commitment to this House to replace the old Victorian mains in my beloved city. I also want to echo a call made by my party colleague, Councillor Paul McAuliffe for Irish Water to publish daily information on treated water levels in our capital. As our former Taoiseach used to say, "Paddy likes to know".

The second issue I wish to raise is that of the blood supply in this city. With people confined to their homes during the storm, blood donations fell and that has put serious pressure on blood supplies. Many cancer patients know, as do their family members, the importance of blood donation and blood supply for cancer treatment. My father, over the course of his 15 years of illness, would have had to receive litres of blood from generous blood donors throughout the country. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service stated on Tuesday that it has three days' supply of common blood types of regular blood and only two days' supply of blood group O. Its aim is to collect 7,000 donations between now and St. Patrick's Day. If people are suitable donors, I ask that they make their way to their local blood donation clinic. It is very important that we increase our supply, especially in light of the fact that we have 600 people waiting on trolleys to be treated around the country and there is a bottleneck with respect to supply due to the storm. I request the Leader to call on the Minister to make this happen.

I wish to raise two issues, one relates to Dún Laoghaire Harbour and the second relates to the Seanad by-election. I will deal first with the issue of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. For those who may have read today's edition of The Irish Times, they would have seen pictures in it of decimated, bashed up, collapsed concrete in Dún Laoghaire Harbour as a result of the recent storms. That sets the context in terms of other political and financial storms that have affected this harbour. To set the context for this, Dún Laoghaire is one of the biggest harbours in Europe and one of the best harbours in the world, and is recognised as such. It comprises 250 acres within the harbour walls. The piers are each a little less than a mile long and that represents 100 ha. It is an enormous national asset for this country but particularly for sailing.

There has been no commercial activity in the harbour. It was the subject of much debate with respect to the ports policy, at which time the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport - our harbours come under that Department - was the current Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar. A decision was taken to transfer control of small ports of regional significance to the local authorities. It was decided that control of this harbour would be transferred to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Yesterday a very extensive meeting took place with the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillors to consider an independent due diligence report on the liabilities that would come with that transfer of control.

The transfer is mandatory. That is covered in the legislation. There is no choice. As a result of an independent due diligence, validated by the Department, the council is now faced with a cost of €34 million to cover the liabilities, of which €1.4 million relates to liabilities concerning a pension fund for employees that are on the books. The sum of €34 million is an enormous amount of money. I call on the Government to have a debate on the matter, in particular with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to whom I will speak in the coming days if I can. The Government must set aside a capital reserve to assist the local authority in taking on this asset. It cannot just wash its hands of a State company by handing it to a local authority while it has €34 million in liabilities.

To provide some context, the local authority was informed yesterday that if it were to take on those liabilities the impact would be an increase of 4% in commercial rates and an 8% increase in local property tax next year right across the county. The harbour is unique and special. I appeal to the Leader to arrange to have a debate or perhaps I need to raise the matter as part of the Commencement debate. The issue is an important one and I have been asked by local authority members to raise it, which is why I speak about it this morning.

Could the Leader inform the House whether he has any knowledge of the intentions of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government this week - not next week - to sign and trigger the order to give effect to a by-election to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the outgoing Senator Denis Landy on the agricultural panel? I understand such an order is imminent and I think we should know. If the Leader does not know perhaps he could find out and tell the House later or tomorrow as the information is important and we should know it.

I rise today to talk about the impact of the recent weather on the farming community. I ask that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine would come to the House to discuss what emergency plan he has put in place, in particular to deal with the fodder crisis, which has been ongoing for some months but because of the weather we have had in the past week the crisis has escalated and it needs an immediate response. The Minister must look north of the Border to examine the funds that were put in place there when farmers experienced hardship. The crisis is not confined to fodder. Sheds have collapsed and people have had to destroy milk. An emergency package must be put in place for farm families which form the backbone of many rural communities.

I also wish to speak about yesterday's meeting of the finance committee which was attended by Commissioner Oettinger who spoke about the EU budget. He told us about the proposed reduction in Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, funding to meet the €5 billion gap that will be created following Brexit. The Commissioner said he has travelled around many member states and the people to whom he has spoken have referred to reductions of up to 30% in the CAP budget. That is absolutely unacceptable. The Commission must look beyond CAP in terms of the gap that will be left by Brexit. It can look, for instance, at reducing the EU militarisation programme. The average income of a farmer in the west of Ireland is perhaps a little more than €3,000 a year and it is not acceptable to expect his direct payments to be reduced while increasing the budget for EU militarisation. That is not what the EU talks about in terms of incorporating the views of all member states and being all-inclusive in its approach. We must stand up for agriculture and agricultural families in this country and for the role they play in rural areas. In terms of food security, we will not know how valuable farmers really are until they are gone. Too many family farms have been destroyed because of Government policies and due to inaction by the EU. We have an opportunity to address that during the CAP review. Currently, 80% of CAP payments are directed to 20% of the highest earners in agriculture and that wrong must be righted in the CAP review as well.

Well said.