Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make a quick intervention in support of my colleague, Deputy Smith. It is important to recognise that strategic flood alleviation has to be undertaken on an ongoing basis. The emphasis has been on flood plains and so forth but the whole country should not have to become a flood plain. When roads become flooded, they disintegrate. Their foundations become soft and they cannot carry traffic without potholing. In County Roscommon, in the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's own constituency, flooding has threatened people's livelihoods and homes and it continues, to the best of my knowledge.. It is something that should be dealt with radically, quickly and directly, without having to wait until it gets worse. The same goes for the coastal erosion along the east coast, which I am more familiar with than along some of the other coasts.

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