Deirdre Clune: State needs to apply for EU assistance after major flooding
The European Commission has said that if the cost of the direct damage of the storm is more than €803m, it can help, provided the Government applies within 12 weeks of the storm hitting the country.
Ireland did not qualify for funds 18 months ago following the severe storms but after flooding in 2009 the EU contributed €13m towards the clean up.
Now, the Department of Finance is investigating whether an application can be made under the European Solidarity Fund, said the Fine Gael MEP for the south.
“It is an avenue that is worth exploring with our colleagues in Brussels in the aftermath of storm Desmond, in particular as the weather is due to get worse again in the coming days,” said Ms Clune.
“It would be remiss of Ireland not to apply and lobby for support under this well established scheme, and I intend on doing what I can from this side.”
The solidarity fund was set up to respond to major natural disasters in the EU as an expression of the union’s solidarity to disaster-stricken regions including floods, earthquakes, droughts, storms, and fires.
It was first created following floods that devastated parts of central Europe in the summer of 2002, and since then has been used to help out with the aftermath of 70 disasters. So far, 24 European countries have received more than €3.7bn in that time.
The rules are strict and the damage caused must be more than 0.6% of a country’s gross national income — for Ireland this year that amounts to €803m.
Alternatively if most of the damage was in one of Ireland’s two regions, different rules would apply.
For instance if there was more than €439.5 m of damage was caused in the Border, Midland and West, then they would be eligible for help.
The threshold is higher for the South and East region that includes Cork and Dublin at €1,999.5m.
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