Communities in the Finn Valley have suffered catastrophic flooding. In Ballybofey and Stranorlar in particular, there has been repeated flooding over the decades, including major events in the 1960s, 1990s, 2015 and 2020. Each flood has caused significant damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and livelihoods. Families have been traumatised and communities economically and socially scarred, with some failing to recover. The Ballybofey-Stranorlar flood scheme remains at the planning and design stage, as the Minister of State knows. Work is meant to begin in 2027. The stark reality is that this demonstrates that meaningful flood protections are literally years away, particularly in the Finn Valley, leaving the residents exposed to flooding again into the future. I commend Councillor Gary Doherty of the Finn Valley for his tireless work on this. He has not stopped for years in trying to advocate for the communities in the valley. Repeated floods and ongoing delays make it clear that funding alone is insufficient. Immediate interim flood prevention measures are urgently required. Flood protection cannot wait because the lives and livelihoods of these citizens, particularly in the Finn Valley area where this has happened before, are petrified it will happen again. We see the constant rising of the River Finn. It is only a matter of time before something happens again.

Sentiment score: -0.07