I have spoken many times in this Chamber about flood prevention and future planning. Climate change means that Ireland will be more prone to flooding due to adverse weather conditions. In my constituency, there are a number of rivers that have either caused or threatened to cause flooding. The River Poddle flows through Kimmage, Crumlin and Harold's Cross. I am happy that a flood alleviation scheme is happening there at the moment. Work on that is ongoing. It cannot happen fast enough, particularly in view of the weather we are having. The River Camac in Kilmainham and Inchicore is in need of culvert repair, embankment reinforcement and other flood prevention measures. The River Liffey flows through Chapelizod, where residents were recently in fear of flooding due to the non-stop rain. Sandbags were issued, but they are only a temporary solution. A permanent solution is definitely needed. Flooding of a business or home is devastating. The Minister of State may not know, but my husband's family experienced flooding in Germany a number of years ago. All of the homes in the villages around the area where they live were destroyed, as were all of the businesses. A total of 130 people died. Following that was the realisation that many people were not covered by insurance. The German Bundestag is now discussing how to ensure that every property has natural hazard cover, which can be opted out of but which has to be provided. It is time that this happened here as well. We cannot have people left in dire situations. Flooding destroys every part of a home. It also destroys people’s lives. The other thing we need to look at is where we build homes and businesses. Floodplains are not something that should be meddled with. They are called floodplains for a reason. On that basis, we need to be cognisant of what future flooding will do. The insurance issue is one that we really need to get a handle on. It is not just flood prevention; it is also what happens afterwards when we do not have the flood prevention methods that we should have already in place.

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