Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have been called worse.

Many homes in my constituency of Cork East were damaged in the latest spate of flooding in December of last year and January of this year. In some parts, homes that had never been flooded before were destroyed. Others had been flooded on numerous occasions. Although not the only cause, climate change has a huge role to play in these incidents of flooding. When coupled with a severe lack of insight and foresight when it came to the planning of these buildings, it was certainly a recipe for disaster, as is evident from the winter that has passed.

I am in possession of a 2013 study carried out in my constituency. It predicted flooding in a particular area of my town where three homes were destroyed in December 2015. However, the report was never acted upon. Even though the survey had predicted that more than a metre of water would lodge there, nothing was done to prevent it. Perhaps future planning developments could incorporate the engagement of those living in the community, as they are the ones who have the experience, rather than outside parties who come in and decide they know what is best for people without ever having experienced the direct impact. It is also worth noting that although some houses may not have been flooded, many more were affected by the flooding issue.

Boil-water notices and backed-up sewerage systems are some of the issues reported to me. At present, Whitegate in east County Cork is in the second month of an eight-month boil-water notice. People there are very frustrated and we are not getting any answers on it. These issues need to be addressed immediately.

Flooding hits many areas in an indiscriminate manner, destroying homes, businesses and farmlands - in other words, prized possessions and people's livelihoods. The impact on some households was structural, resulting in property damage costing in some cases above €60,000, which is a very significant amount of money for anyone who cannot get flood insurance. The same applies to business owners. These small and medium-sized enterprises that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael claim to want to empower are an integral part of our overall economy. They were left in the dark to a large extent, picking up the slack for something that was completely out of their control. Granted, the Government cannot control the weather, but it can control the establishment of a system to help those most affected and some preventative actions to stop this from happening on an annual or biannual basis. On that note, I commend the members of the respective local authorities, the Army and the Civil Defence, as well as members of the local communities and all other organisations on their hard work over that difficult period, as well as the hotel and bed and breakfast owners who opened their doors to those in need.

Although the jury is still out on climate change for some Deputies in this Chamber, a large majority of us realise that this is the most major issue facing us in the next 20 to 40 years. The evidence is overwhelming, and if we do not act now it is predicted that it will be too late. We are hurtling towards 2020 at an alarming rate, and by the sounds of things we will need to get Volkswagen in to alter the measurement of our emission levels. We have been issued guidelines and limits that are binding, and are potentially facing billions of euro worth of fines, all for not doing enough to reduce our carbon footprint. It is hard to imagine that we have predicted our extinction as a species and outlined exactly how we should go about preventing our extinction, yet are still pursuing policies that bring us closer to our imminent end.

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