€3.5m paid out to Cork businesses impacted by Storm Babet

Storm Babet in October 2023 caused devastation in Midleton. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Almost €3.5m has been paid out to Cork businesses devastated by floods during Storm Babet.

The money has been paid out under Government schemes set up in the aftermath of October’s weather event which caused devastation in Midleton and other areas in East and North Cork.

According to the Irish Red Cross, which is administering the schemes set up by the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment in the days following the floods on October 18, a total of €3,428,473 has been paid to 164 applicants so far in Cork alone.

The majority of the applicants to receive funding to date have been from Cork, with a further 31 businesses in other parts of the country receiving the balance from an overall total of €3,783,290.

A total of 353 applications were made to the two different sets of schemes: a standard scheme which provided an initial payment of €5,000 plus additional payments up to a total of €20,000; and an enhanced scheme aimed at severely affected businesses, with an initial payout of €10,000 and further payments up to a total of €100,000 provided for.

There were 144 applications for assistance under the standard scheme, while 152 applied for support under the enhanced scheme. Three applications were withdrawn while 49 were deemed ineligible, and a further five applications have yet to confirm which of the two schemes they wished to apply for.

Of the 353 applications, 89 applicants have received their full payments and their claims are now complete.

A further 80 applicants have received their initial payments and their files have been sent to an assessor who has set out an appointment date with all businesses to carry out an assessment before a second payment is made.

An additional 23 applicants have received their first payments and their files are to be sent soon to assessors and three more applicants have received their initial payments and their assessment is on hold while their landlords’ applications are being processed.

A further six applications have had their applications assessed and will be getting their second and final payments this week, while another six applicants have had their applications verified by the local authority and their bank information is being sought so their first payment can be made.

Three payments have been sent to the relevant local authorities and verification is being awaited.