Taskforce concludes meeting on flooding crisis

The Emergency Taskforce has met to discuss ongoing efforts to deal with flooding in the west and southwest of the country.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Government departments, the Gardaí, Defence forces and the HSE.

Personel from the Coast guard, Deptartment of defence, justice, transport, and Met Eireann are among those attending.

The ESB will also update the Committee in relation to recovery efforts.

Meanwhile the ESB said that water levels at the Iniscarra Dam are slowly returning to normal.

Huge volumes of water were released into the River Lee in Cork yesterday by the opening of the dam.

Elsewhere, 1,200 members of SIPTU have confirmed that they have postponed strike action in Galway and Clare in order to focus on the cleanup operation

Minister Martin Manseragh, who is visiting Galway, said that while some areas have improved, many will suffer ongoing difficulties.