Is iomaí pobail atá ag ullmhú do thuilte anois agus arís uile ina dtithe agus ina gcomhlachtaí. Tá imní orthu ar fud an Stáit agus tá siad ag mothú tréigthe. Tá sé seo ag tarlú roimh súile an Tánaiste agus ní rud nua é. Bhí sé agus tá sé i gcroílár an Rialtais le breis agus deich mbliana agus bhí sé ina Aire é féin le linn eachtraí tuilte arís agus arís eile. Le linn na blianta sin, thug Rialtais ina raibh sé ina bhall sinsireach dóibh dearbhaithe arís is arís eile go mbeadh cosaint bhuan ar deireadh i gcoinne tuilte, ach níl sé sin feicthe againn. Today, many communities are bracing themselves for repeat flooding of their homes and businesses. Homes have been destroyed and businesses have been wrecked. Families are once again clearing out the water and debris knowing this destruction was predictable and preventable. This is happening on the Tánaiste's watch and it is not new. He has been at the heart of Governments for more than a decade now. He has been a Minister during repeated flooding events and, during those years, Governments of which he was a senior member repeatedly assured communities that permanent flood defences would finally be delivered. After the floods of 2015 and 2016 when communities were devastated, he was the Minister of State with responsibility for flood defences. Yet years later, many of the same flood relief schemes identified, prioritised or advanced during that period remain incomplete, with a significant number still stuck at planning stage, or worse, at design stage, rather than being built. This is the reality behind his record of broken promises. This is not a failure of information; it is a failure of political follow through. In 2018, the Government completed a nationwide flood risk assessment. It knows where the danger points are. Nearly every county has flood relief issues and communities have been lobbying for action ever since. Yet, the figures are stark. There are 94 flood relief schemes that are described as ongoing, 68 of which have not even reached planning stage and 54 of which are not in active consideration at all. Many of these schemes were identified or progressed during the very years when communities were being assured by the Tánaiste that the Government was acting. Instead of accepting responsibility, the Government has blamed everyone but itself, the weather, local authorities, even Met Éireann has been thrown in for good measure. Met Éireann does not build flood defences. Local authorities do not decide on national capital priorities. The responsibility rests with the Government and the consequences of this are being felt by communities across the State in Aughrim, Arklow, Enniscorthy and Bunclody, where repeated flooding has damaged homes, businesses and vital infrastructure. Years of cuts to local authority road budgets since 2008 by successive Governments of which the Tánaiste was a member have left roads in a dreadful state. Flooding and heavy rain are now finishing them off, creating a serious road safety issue in counties like Wexford and Wicklow. Last week in Bunclody, a school bus was forced to abandon its route when the road beneath it collapsed and 53 families were affected. This damage was foreseeable. It was warned about and it was avoidable. Given the Tánaiste's record and the broken promises made during his years in government, what concrete action will he take now to ensure permanent flood relief is finally delivered? Will he set out clear decisions, timelines and funding commitments today for flood defences and emergency road repairs? Will these communities be asked to accept this and wait another ten years - another decade - and for another series of broken promises, clearing out their homes and businesses after every storm, while the Government recycles the same old promises, broken again and again?

Sentiment score: -0.05

Let us park the weather forecast to one side because that is not our responsibility.

Sentiment score: 0.00

RTÉ does a fine job with that. Let us deal with what we are responsible for. The Tánaiste has been a Minister through flood after flood. What did the Tánaiste say, sorry?

Sentiment score: 0.11

Let us look at what the Tánaiste is responsible for. He has been a Minister in Cabinet, indeed even Taoiseach, during flood after flood. Each time, communities were told that action would follow. He talks about the new buzzword "the here and now". I am talking about what has happened in the last ten years, because people were promised that there would be action from the Government. Does the Tánaiste know how many schemes have been delivered since he made the promise in 2016? It is not 56; that number goes back to 1997. Did he know that? That is 30 years ago. Since the Tánaiste became a Minister, promising people that his Government would take action, only 17 major schemes have been completed. One hundred and forty-eight schemes have been identified. These are areas that are prone to flooding, identified by a specialised report, and none of those 148 have been completed. Some are not even in design stage yet. That is not the here and now. That is ten years on.

Sentiment score: 0.09

What is going to be different this time? Please do not recite the weather again. What is the Government going to do differently this time to fulfil the promises that it made to communities ten years ago that have seen repeated flooding and families having to clean out debris, their houses and their businesses, with no action from Government on the horizon?

Sentiment score: 0.26

I want you to build the flood reliefs. Build the flood reliefs. That is your job. Do you want to tell the families to get the sandbags ready? Protect the communities. You have had ten years to do it.

Sentiment score: 0.25

Answer the question.

Sentiment score: 0.00

Please answer your broken promises. Diversion tactics.

Sentiment score: 0.10

Is the Tánaiste embarrassed?

Sentiment score: -0.36

Seventeen schemes in ten years. Is he embarrassed? He should be. He has abandoned those communities over and over again.

Sentiment score: -0.21

Shame on you. You have left your own communities abandoned. Seventeen schemes in ten years, or do you want to go back 30 years? You should be embarrassed.

Sentiment score: -0.30