Storm Chandra: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-10 ============================================================ Maria McCormack (SF), Labour Panel This debate is about Storm Chandra but the discussion should not be limited to one storm. Storm Chandra was not particularly remarkable as an isolated weather event. The flooding was devastating but inevitable because of the amount of rainfall preceding the storm and the lack of preparation due to the frustratingly slow progress of flood relief schemes and flood defence measures, which have been promised for far too long. This is not about just one storm, this is about years of failure and neglect. I do not say this lightly in regard to the promises and the slow progress for people in Laois but there is no hiding from the fact that this Government has failed people in Laois for far too long in terms of getting flood defences built so that storms like Chandra and the rainfall warnings from last week do not have such catastrophic consequences for people's lives, their homes and their businesses. We also learned last week from the public accounts committee that millions of euro allocated for the national flood forecasting warning service went unspent. Only €5.9 million out of an allocation of €19.3 million was spent on this service between 2020 and 2024. We need to know why. I hope the Minister will address that. Storm Chandra and the recent persistent rainfall have again laid bare the failure to implement services and schemes to prevent damage from flooding, not just last week or during the storm. In County Laois, there are three towns constantly at risk of flooding. I talk about them all the time in this Chamber. Last November, Storm Claudia caused flooding once again in Mountmellick and Portarlington. Historical reports of flooding have shown these areas to be prone to flooding for decades. Flood relief schemes in Mountmellick, Portarlington and Clonaslee were promised after the devastation of the 2017 floods. As Senator Murphy said about a scheme in his local area, nine years later these schemes are still in the planning stages. Schemes on paper are worth nothing to the people who fear yellow rain advisory or storm warnings. Across the country, communities have waited and waited. They are frustrated by the slow progress in these schemes, especially the people in County Laois. On behalf of those who have had their homes and businesses destroyed already, who cannot get insurance now to cover any future damage, and who live in constant fear of the destruction of what will happen once again, I ask the Minister to do more to stop talking about this and to get some action. These schemes cannot stay in the planning stage for nearly a decade. I cannot understand why they are taking so long to complete. My thoughts are with the people across the country who are living through this destruction of their homes, their businesses and their belongings. The financial impact of it all must be mentioned alongside the sheer stress and frustration they must be feeling. They know these floods were both predictable and preventable. The extent of the flooding damage would not have been as severe if long-term flood defence plans had been fulfilled by this Government. There are excellent plans - I have seen the super flood plans for Mountmellick, Portarlington and Clonaslee - but they are no good sitting in someone's office gathering dust. The long-term flood defence plans and flood relief schemes have been drawn up and ready to go for years, and now are really only lacking political will and funding. It is not the fault of Laois County Council, which is doing everything in its power. It is a question of the funding coming down to it. Right now, words and statements on this are not enough. People in County Laois are really angry when it comes to flood defences. Delivery of these flood defences must happen now, not in four years time, which I am told is the projected timeframe for when the Laois schemes will get under way. How many more storms and heavy rainfall events will destroy properties and communities while we wait for these schemes to be completed? The Minister can hear that there is serious frustration here. It does not matter whether it is code yellow, red, orange, blue or pink - the progress here is too slow and it is not good enough. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-10