'Anger is an understatement': Midleton locals still fighting for promised funding
Christian Kyriacou demonstrates the chest-height water levels when his home in Mogeely, East Cork, was flooded as a result of heavy rainfall from Storm Babet last October. Picture: Cian O'Regan
When Leo Varadkar visited Midleton in the aftermath of last October’s devastating floods, residents could have been forgiven for thinking financial aid would not be a problem.
The Taoiseach said he was not visiting the east Cork town to “just express solidarity” but that he and his Government colleagues were “there to help”.
There would not, he promised, be a cap on the State’s €10m Humanitarian Aid Fund, and shortly after he gave that assurance, an extra €3m was put into the fund.
Established in 2009, the income-tested scheme is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to householders affected by severe weather events.
Administered by the Department of Social Protection’s Community Welfare Service, it was a much-welcome source for funds for residents badly affected by what were described at the time as the “biblical” Storm Babet-related floods.
Since then, an Irish Red Cross-administered business relief scheme has so far seen 231 businesses get a share of €6.4m.
But while there are few complaints about that scheme, there is anger among residents around the Department of Social Protection’s scheme.
Some families say they have been left with no choice but to abandon their homes, and are either living in hostels or hotels, or sofa surfing with friends and family.
Others who stay are not only fighting a battle to get anything approaching the right amount of funds to pay for the damage to their homes, but they are struggling with the stress of only being able to live in the upper half of their homes.
It is estimated as many as 350 people are still struggling with the impact of last October’s floods.
They come from estates in and around Midleton, in Beechwood Drive, Willowbank, Tir Cluain, Woodlands, as well as a number of houses on the Mill Road and in further out areas such as Mogeely.
Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide told the many residents across East Cork are having “serious difficulty” accessing financial support through the Department of Social Protection for repairs to their properties or replacement of items.
He said: “They are being quoted figures that are not meeting their costs, and they are only being offered a percentage of this funding upfront based on a means test.
“By contrast, business owners are accessing Irish Red Cross funding without the same level of bureaucracy and financial burden.”
He added: “We need the Government to simplify this process and meet people where they're at. This should be a 'one-shop-stop' system set up that reduces red tape and provides consistent financial support for residents and business owners."
Flooding victim Christian Kyriacou, who lives in a semi-detached Gleann Fia estate just outside Midleton, said: “There are 32 houses on our estate and ours was one of 30 to have the lower level of their houses destroyed.
“Everything from downstairs has had to be thrown out, all white goods like fridges, washing machines and furniture and then walls and flooring and carpets, as well as electric cabling around the ground floor.
“You name it — it all had to go because it wasn’t just water, there was raw sewage as well.
“But that has been a disaster, because it does not look like we are going to be getting anything near what we need to rebuild and we just don’t know what to do.
“It is hard to think that we were hit last October, and myself, my wife Milena and my 12-year-old son Ryan and four-year-old daughter Mia all live on the upstairs floor.
“Downstairs is just a shell, and a mess, and progress is really, really slow.”
He said he was told the lowest estimate to rebuild the downstairs of his house would be €65,000 “to get just the basics done”.
“I’ve had another builder tell me that the best deal they could offer is €75,000, and that is without any furniture, or anything other than a basic rebuild,” he said.
Mr Kyriacou has so far received €13,000 of the total €30,000 Department of Social Protection staff have told him it will cost to get his house restored to anything resembling normality.
Yet, as he points out, the department estimates bear little or no resemblance to reality.
He said while, for example, the lowest price he could get for a new kitchen was €13,200, department staff say the family could get one for €3,000.
Chair of the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group Mona Stromsoe said she was aware of one woman who was offered €155 for the replacement of the stairs carpet.
“The woman asked how she was going to pay to replace her stairs carpet and she was told the value was based on the fact that only the first four steps of her stairs had been damaged in the floods,” she said.
"Members of the group have heard the same thing from two different people since then.
“Our position is that the humanitarian fund is not fit for purpose in either structure or administration.
“This was an emergency situation but was not treated as an emergency.
“When people are dealing with this kind of disaster and their homes have been destroyed, they also have a fear that their lives are at risk.
“The very idea that this is a humanitarian fund that is means-tested is also something that is running contrary to all the things you would associate with being connected to the word ‘humanitarian’.
“The scheme is supposed to provide emergency financial assistance to households but nearly five months later a lot of people are still waiting.”
For its part, the Department of Social Protection insists people are receiving the money they need and a lot of it has already been distributed.
In a statement to the , a spokesperson said a total of 1,164 payments totalling almost €2.43m have been made to 627 householders since October 19, 2023, to those affected by recent weather events across the country.
Following Storm Babet, they said some 970 payments have been made through the scheme to people in Cork and Waterford, up to the week ending February 24, totalling just over €2.15m.
It said: "The Community Welfare Service continues to engage and provide supports under the scheme to householders in Midleton and other areas of Co Cork.
"The situation on the ground continues to be monitored and our staff are engaging with the local authorities and other agencies to ensure supports are being provided to those affected as swiftly as possible."
Despite this, members of the local community are still waiting for action from the Government following the delivery last month to the Dáil of a petition signed by 15,000 people calling for urgent relief for those affected by Storm Babet and action to prevent further floods.
"Anger is an understatement about how many people feel" said Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group member Caroline Leahy, whose home in Tir Cluain in Midleton was destroyed.
"But some of our members are elderly people who were up to their neck in water and they are still left in a building site.
"What is happening still to this day is simply not humane."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
