Government announces €10m fund for flood victims

The Government has today announced a €10m fund to assist people suffering extreme hardship as a result of flooding.

Brian Cowen also told the Dáil that the Minister for Finance is checking if money is available from the European Solidarity Fund.

A special scheme for farmers is also to be rolled out.

The Taoiseach's comments come as Athlone became the latest to be hit by flooding with 50 homes evacuated.

Major alerts remain in place in parts of Clare and Limerick, while thousands of homes in Cork are without drinking water.

But Labour leader Eamon Gilmore says the response from Government needs to be improved.

"The Government needs to take charge of this," said Gilmore.

"First of all there is the really immediate stuff of getting drinking water back to something like 18,000 homes in Cork...

"Secondly there is the immediate needs of people who are out of their home. Somebody in Government needs to talk with the insurance industry immediately to ensure that claims are processed promptly."