Relief fund not fit for purpose, says charity

The Government’s plan to provide humanitarian assistance to those whose homes have been damaged by the severe winter storms is repeating the mistakes of the past and is not fit for purpose, according to the Cork regional vice-president of St Vincent de Paul.

The Government has spent just €2.3m of a €10m humanitarian assistance fund set up in 2009 to provide emergency help to victims of flood damage.

Brendan Dempsey of St Vincent de Paul believes the €7.7m remaining should be put in a fund so that those who need it can access it.

“Look, the current means tested scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection doesn’t work, because there is too much red tape and bureaucracy, and many people can’t avail of it. Almost €8m in funding remains unspent while the SVdP has paid out €300,000 to families in Cork over the past 18 months to fix their homes because their insurance didn’t fully cover the damage,” he said.

Mr Dempsey said the fund could be run by the National Treasury Management Agency and his charity would provide free assessors to help those affected by severe weather make legitimate claims.

The establishment of such a fund has been supported by Fine Gael TD Dara Murphy, who said it would operate like the motor insurance scheme for those affected by uninsured drivers.

“We have a situation where whole housing estates cannot get home or flood insurance because they have been blacklisted by the industry. Community rating prevents this happening in the health insurance market. The industry should contribute to the scheme and it could be also used to build defenses to prevent further flooding.”

Under the scheme, those whose uninsured homes were damaged by flooding can apply to their local community welfare office if they are not in a position to meet costs for essential needs, household items, and in some instances, structural repairs. A small number of households have already been assisted by the scheme following the recent storms.

Mr Murphy called on the Department of Social Protection to send community welfare officers into the worst affected areas to explain to people how to make a claim.

Business and private home owner are expected to claim off their own policies.

Last night, the European Commission threw the Government a funding lifeline after it said it may provide help for local authorities to cope with the fallout from the storms.

A number of MEPs had said funding was available from the €500m EU Solidarity Fund to help offset the costs of natural disasters.

A commission spokesperson told RTÉ: “We stand ready to assess any application to help rebuild infrastructure or other areas in need of support if we receive a request from the Irish authorities.”

Earlier Irish West MEP Jim Higgins said he had been told it would be made available if the Government “applies immediately.”

Assessing the infrastructural damage was at the centre of yesterday’s meeting of the Government’s emergency response task force.

The group called on councils to provide estimates on the cost of the damage which will be presented to next Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting by Environment Minister Phil Hogan.

The cost of the cleanup is expected to exceed the €45m earmarked this year for emergency funding and could be near the €244m cost of the floods in 2009.

With roads and public amenities bearing the brunt of the damage, it is expected the Department of Transport and the OPW will largely have to fund repairs.