Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

I can remember a long list of Ministers splashing around floods in their top boots for photographs. I can even remember former Minister Joan Burton falling out of a canoe when looking at a flood system. None of this gives any confidence at all to people who are being inundated at the moment. The Tánaiste talks about the critical infrastructure. My problem with the Tánaiste is that he has been here for 15 years yet if we remove the future tense he is silent on delivery. This is an incredible situation. In Clontarf, flood defences will have been 30 years from concept to completion. A scheme in Sandymount was promised 20 years ago but will not be delivered until 2032. Galway was promised works in 2019 but it will 2035 before delivery. These are all with the caveat, "If everything goes well". The Tánaiste must be embarrassed by the length of time it is taking for the delivery of infrastructure in his area.
In terms of the clean up, I know of homes that are not getting sandbags from their communities. Business people I am talking to are still not clear about what exactly is covered in relation to this. Will their earnings be covered? Will it be means tested? People have lost their cars. We have seen cars submerged. They will not be paid for their cars. People feel it is unfair that people from Ukraine had their cars fixed by the Government a year ago and yet these cars will not be fixed in this particular situation. Everybody should be treated equally in this country in relation to fixing of cars. When will the Tánaiste fix these issues?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29