Weather Events
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Noel McCarthy (FG), Cork East

I acknowledge there has been some improvement in east Cork with the continued roll-out of flood barriers through the individual property protection scheme. I thank the Minister and his Department for that. However, every effort should be made to reimburse the residents' association for such a small amount in the grand scheme of the €50 million-plus Midleton relief scheme. That is where the residents are mixed up. There was so much money but they cannot recoup €7,700. The residents find that hard to understand.
I know my colleague, Councillor Rory Cocking, has raised the answer regularly at the quarterly Midleton flood committee meetings and has written directly to the Minister of State's office and the Minister for housing. However, the situation remains the same, as the Minister of State acknowledged.
We have seen other instances of extreme flooding across the country in recent times; surely similar flood protection works by residents have been undertaken elsewhere. Are any measures being considered by the Department that would see emergency response actions, such as those undertaken by the citizens in Willowbank, being refunded? Will the Minister of State or his Department officials consider meeting with residents to further discuss this matter? I thank the Minister of State for all his input so far.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28