No financial bailout for victims, says Taoiseach
Mr Cowen, who conducted a whistle-stop tour yesterday of areas devastated by the floods, said the Government would discuss the impact of the damage at today’s cabinet meeting.
Speaking in Cork where 18,000 households remain without water, Mr Cowen ruled out the possibility of a comprehensive financial aid package. His comments came as Labour called on the Government to apply for funding from an EU solidarity fund set up after flooding devastated Germany and Austria in 2002.
However, Mr Cowen said insurance issues would have to be addressed first and the possibility of humanitarian aid would be looked at further down the line.
“In the past we have been able to see what assistance can be given on a humanitarian basis where extreme hardship arises. From the Government’s point of view we’ll be looking at it at tomorrow’s meeting. The immediate issue here is to concentrate on the problems people are having,” Mr Cowen said.
He said the Government would look at “what issues are emerging” at today’s cabinet meeting “to see what way we can help”.
Meanwhile, it has emerged Fine Gael will use its parliamentary time this week to call for a more advanced early warning system to be put in place.
And when asked about investment in flood relief schemes, Mr Cowen said it is “something the OPW is working on”. He said: “There has been an investment in flood relief schemes. I’ve been to Clonmel this morning where I’ve seen the benefits of phase 1 of that scheme there. It’s been working in Carrick-on-Suir, Kilkenny, and Mallow with the demountable fences. There are plans for Fermoy, which has been acutely affected. I’m aware that other towns in the Cork area have been affected as well – that work will be ongoing.”
Mr Cowen refused to be drawn on whether there was a need for a public inquiry into the devastation caused by the floods following the ESB’s decision to release millions of tonnes of water from the Inniscarra dam late on Thursday night.
“I’m not getting involved in whether something like that occurs at all,” Mr Cowen said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said he was “disappointed that the first thing some people called for was a public inquiry”.
“I’d like to give the people at the coalface the space to deal with the crisis first and then we’ll deal with what happened,” Mr Martin said.
When asked if he would make a case at today’s cabinet meeting for financial aid for households and businesses devastated by the floods, Mr Martin said: “I think first of all we’ll have to assess what’s covered by insurance for both private households and public facilities like UCC and I think the Taoiseach indicated that from a humanitarian perspective, we would look at certain situations where people are in difficulty.”
Mr Cowen was briefed on the impact of the flood during his trip to Cork when he met Cork city manager Joe Gavin, county manager Martin Riordan and the crisis management team.
Mr Cowen also visited Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and Ballinasloe, Co Galway, to inspect flood damage.
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