I thank all Deputies for the opportunity to speak on what is an important matter. At the outset, I acknowledge the upset that has been experienced by communities across the country, including mine, County Waterford, in recent weeks as a result of Storm Chandra. The Government will not oppose the motion because we recognise the importance of the issue. We want to ensure that we can continue to protect against the risk of flooding through flood defence measures and reducing development in areas that are prone to flooding. We want to improve the response when it comes to communicating in and around severe weather events. We want to continue to provide sufficient relief and support to citizens and businesses which have been impacted by flood events. As the House is no doubt aware, responsibility for floods, on behalf of Government, rests with the OPW. It is leading an ambitious national programme to protect against the risk of flooding and, to date, has invested some €580 million to complete 56 flood relief schemes which are protecting 13,580 properties nationwide, providing an economic benefit in damages avoided estimated to be in the region of €2 million. Most recently, in 2025 over €100 million was spent on delivering flood relief schemes. This is a record annual expenditure and is reflective of the progress that is being made in delivering schemes nationally. Obviously, we want to increase the level of investment in the years ahead. Flood interventions include small scale interventions under the minor works schemes which are delivered by local authorities. The Minister, Deputy Moran, has increased the threshold for this from €750,000 to €2 million. There are also larger schemes that are generally carried out by the OPW, in conjunction with the relevant local authorities, generally in urban areas and designed and prioritised based on catchment flood risk assessment and management. An Coimisiún Pleanála generally deals with such applications due to their scale or need for environmental assessment, which is a requirement of EU law. Action is also being taken to complement this approach, as the Minister responsible for the OPW is proposing to assign the consent function for flood relief schemes progressed under the Arterial Drainage Act to An Coimisiún Pleanála. Turning to action taken to manage development in areas that are at risk of flooding, which some Members have already cited, the planning system and flood risk management guidelines for planning authorities were developed in 2009 by the then Department of the Environment in conjunction with the OPW. Under these guidelines, planning authorities should apply a sequential approach in aiming to avoid development in areas at risk of flooding through the zoning and development management process. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently working with the OPW to develop further guidance on the consideration of the potential impacts of climate change on flooding and flood risk as part of the planning and development management process and the application of these. The assessment of individual planning applications remains to be carried out on a case-by-case basis by each planning authority and-or An Coimisiún Pleanála, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation, including the development plan for areas and the 2009 guidelines. The Office of the Planning Regulator has a statutory responsibility for the independent evaluation and assessment of local authority development plans and, where appropriate, may recommend to me, as Minister with responsibility for planning, to use my power to direct changes to a particular plan. My predecessors and I have issued 14 such directions regarding flood risk since 2021. There are, however, already significant urban areas in the country beside rivers and seas that are vulnerable to flooding for historic reasons, which is why a system for alerts to give early and adequate warnings is so important. The OPW has responsibility for establishing flood risk management plans in Ireland and established and led the three-legged framework for flood monitoring, forecasting and warning, referred to as the national flood forecasting and warning service, NFFWS. As part of the first phase of the establishment of the NFFWS, a flood forecasting centre was established in Met Éireann and has provided flood forecasting information to emergency management stakeholders since early 2024. The flood warning leg was to be progressed during the later stages of the NFFWS. In line with a strong record on the provision of open data, Met Éireann plans to increase the information it makes publicly available as the flood monitoring leg of the NFFWS develops. Met Éireann communicates expected flooding with the public through existing systems and the inclusion of flood information in public weather warnings and forecasts, including on its website, mobile apps and other media channels. In support of flood forecasting, Met Éireann has also significantly expanded its weather monitoring networks, upgrading weather radars and extensively expanding its weather prediction systems. The flooding associated with Storm Chandra has demonstrated the limitations of a system in which weather warnings and emergency flood forecasting capability exist but are not underpinned by an official public warning function. Looking forward, the Office of Emergency Planning in the Department of Defence, as chair of the Government task force on emergency management subgroup, is developing a plan for the next stage of the NFFWS which will enable the implementation of comprehensive nationwide localised warning system. It is important to point out for those who have been affected by flooding that there are a number of measures in place, including the emergency humanitarian flooding scheme, which has been operated by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment since 2018. The scheme provides a contribution of up to €20,000 for small businesses with up to 20 employees as well as community, voluntary and sporting bodies. A prerequisite of the scheme is that businesses or community and sporting bodies must have been unable to secure flood insurance through no fault of their own and to evidence their efforts if necessary. The scheme is typically opened after a severe flooding event and is administered on behalf of the Department by the Irish Red Cross. In response to extreme weather conditions in the wake of Storm Chandra in January, the Department opened an enhanced version of the scheme under which the maximum funding amount has been increased to €100,000 from €20,000 and businesses employing up to 50 people are now included. Separately, the emergency response payment, formerly the humanitarian assistance scheme, provides financial support for people whose homes are damaged by flooding and severe weather events and have been unable to meet emergency costs for essential needs, household items and structural repairs. This support from the Department of Social Protection is a three-stage process. Stage 1 of the scheme addresses hardship in the immediate aftermath of an emergency event and provides emergency support payments to cover immediate and essential costs, including the purchase of food, clothing, bedding and essential personal items for immediate use. Stage 1 is not income tested. Stage 2 involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items and generally applies after the event. Stage 3 covers the cost of essential structural repairs to a person's primary residence, such as plastering, dry lining, the relaying of floors, electrical rewiring and painting. The income limits for stages 2 and 3 of the scheme are €50,000 for a single person and €90,000 for a couple or single parent and €15,000 per dependent child. Reduced or tapered levels of support apply where household income is above these limits. The scheme can cover replacement and repair costs under stages 2 and 3, in circumstances where the household can demonstrate that it was unable to secure adequate insurance cover. The Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that we can protect more properties from flooding as a result of flood alleviation schemes, to improving our communications ahead and during severe weather events and to ensuring that adequate support is provided to householders and businesses that are impacted by floods. As a Government, we acknowledge, as I said at the outset, the upset and the devastation that have been experienced by households across this country as a result of the most recent events, and we will work as a Government to ensure that we will continue to progress those measures. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, will refer to that in his closing.

Sentiment score: 0.04