€25m relief fund to aid homeowners

The minister in charge of the Government’s response to the flooding crisis has said it cannot solve all the problems but it will limit the impact on those who have been affected.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan has said the €25 million allocated in funding was for food, clothing and accommodation to help families over the next few days and weeks.

Two schemes are available through the Department of Social Protection:

nThe Exceptional Needs and Urgent Needs Payments Scheme is available at Community Welfare Offices and is aimed at immediate needs such as the purchase of food, clothing, fuel and household goods. A number of emergency clinics have been set up in the worst affected areas.

n The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, which is means tested, is focused on social welfare recipients who cannot afford to repair the damage to their homes. Essential contents such as carpets, flooring, furniture, bedding, household appliances and structural damage will all be considered and no limit has been set but it will not be allocated until the flood water abates and houses dry out.

There is no provision for the hundreds of businesses which were damaged by floods.

However, Mr Hogan said he was examining how to help businesses that could not secure flood insurance “through no fault of their own”.

In the Dáil Taoiseach Enda Kenny admitted that the €250m allocated to bolster the country’s flood defences over the next five years will not be enough as climate change was having a serious and unprecedented impact on the country.

It came as experts warned communities close to rivers with high water levels also face the risk of flooding with the bad weather set to continue for the next six to 10 days.

Speaking in the Dáil Mr Kenny said the cost of building 10km of wall defences in Cork alone would be in the region of €50m to €100m and insisted it was a complex engineering challenge to halt the “the inexorable rise of tides and consequential water back-up”.

He estimated up to 300 areas in Ireland were at risk of future flooding.

The Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin criticised the Government’s response as “not urgent enough” and said it would be 2016 or 2017 before flood defences were constructed.

During Leaders’ Questions Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams compared the Taoiseach’s response to King Canute who thought his command could hold back the tide.

With the Cabinet to be updated both today and next Tuesday, the National Emergency Coordination Group yesterday advised communities to remain vigilant and aware of water levels and weather patterns following the recent flooding.

The group admitted that there was particular concern about the river Shannon.

Met Éireann’s Gerald Fleming said that it was difficult to predict if the current storms were normal or part of any climate change.

Rivers responded differently to the huge rainfall, he said. While the Shannon could take four weeks to adjust to the high waters, smaller rivers in Wicklow could adjust in a number of hours, he added.