Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising this matter. I know the flooding experienced in his constituency of Dublin Bay North was really horrendous. I remember witnessing the video footage of it. We all saw the videos in particular of the basements of apartment blocks being flooded, and the fear and anxiety that created. The emergency response payment administered by the Department of Social Protection does not exclude apartments from supports. That has been confirmed to me by the Department. However, the Deputy's broader point is absolutely right. We are living through a time when we are seeing more incidences of severe weather. We are therefore spending more on trying to assist people. Along with spending a lot more on resilience and adaptation measures, we need to review how effectively the use of taxpayers' money through these payments is assisting people. In the aftermath of a variety of adverse weather events, this is an area we want to look at, from both a social protection point of view and an enterprise point of view. We need to make sure the schemes we have in place are working well. Data is a key part of that. I will certainly follow up further with both relevant Ministers and revert to the Deputy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19