I acknowledge the very serious flood issues in Carlow. I visited a number of the businesses and households there. Of course, it is the same everywhere else that is affected by flooding. There is devastation after the flood. There is the attempt on more than one occasion to rebuild a life and a home. They are fed up of waiting for the schemes that have been talked about by us in here for years and years. In Carlow, for example, when some of the businesses and residents applied for support, it was too slow in being delivered. Regarding farmers losing livestock, one man lost 14 sheep in the flood. He is having difficulty being included. He is not included in the Red Cross or the business fund. I have made a case to the Minister. He and anyone else who lost their stock should be looked after. After all, it is a business that runs on a small margin. They need the money quickly to replace the stock and get back into business. I went through the houses in Inistioge yesterday. I was shocked when I drove through Inistioge during the flood prior to the most recent one. The water was literally running over the crossbar on the GAA pitch. After that, I saw the devastation in the homes. I do not know how they tolerated it. I listened to the cases of the people living right beside the waterfront in Graiguenamanagh. Older people were desperately trying to get the money to get their homes back in order. I ask that in each and every scheme, for those who are in the system and those waiting to go into it, the Minister of State insists that Government pull out all of the stops and address all of the obstacles preventing the schemes from getting to the point of construction. I have heard the arguments about nature and so on but, when the scheme in Kilkenny city was being finished before 2005, I saw the trucks drive up and down the riverbed. I saw that scheme finished. It is an excellent scheme and one that is worth looking at.

Sentiment score: -0.11