The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, will know that I live by a lovely beach at Rossbeigh in south Kerry. The Minister of State did us the honour of visiting us on his second last trip to Kerry. We are plagued by coastal erosion, storms and damage to our coastline. Since the Minister of State was down with us, we have had a high tide and the public road down by the beach was closed off for a number of days. If we do not get funding fairly soon the play area, including the playground and the tennis court, will be damaged yet again. I ask that the Minister of State would assist Kerry County Council with funding to strengthen the works there and to carry out additional works. On that same day the Minister of State also visited Cromane, a five-minute drive from Rossbeigh, where he met a number of local families whose homes have been subject to flooding. As I keep saying, there is a big difference between rainwater flooding and seawater flooding. It is a different ball game when you have the Atlantic Ocean inside your home. I have witnessed a number of occasions when there has been 3 ft of salt water inside people's homes. Once a place has been flooded it is absolutely impossible to get insurance again. The people there, the residents of Cromane Lower, are living on edge every time there is a high tide. Where the problem really lies is when it coincides with a storm. Our storms are getting more frequent and urgent action is required. The residents cannot sleep in their beds when there are high tides. I plead with the Minister of State again today to come to the assistance and to the rescue of the residents of Cromane Lower. The same applies to Glosha, which is in Cromane as well. Going back the road from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen there is Whitestrand Beach over the water from Cahersiveen. It is subject to continuous erosion. The public toilets are in danger of being washed away. I ask that emergency funding be made available there. Back along the Ring of Kerry road towards Waterville, there is a huge problem with coastal erosion. Submissions have been made regarding Waterville as well. Again, I ask that funding be made available. Regarding Glenbeigh, just a mile from Rossbeigh beach the Minister of State met with residents of Incheraigh. Their homes were flooded. They spent an absolute fortune over the years. They came up here to see a predecessor of the Minister of State, the current Tánaiste, Simon Harris, when he was Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. They were pleading for funding and were successful on that occasion. The embankment there was in the charge of the old Land Commission. This is a grey area. Historically, the residents would pay an annual fee to the Land Commission and in return it would carry out emergency protection works. That scheme should be reintroduced because they are in no man's land. There are other big schemes. I thank the Minister of State for the funding he has announced. He was in Listowel, which is a massive scheme. I congratulate the Office of Public Works and, indeed, Kerry County Council for the tremendous work they did there. There are other schemes in Tralee, Killarney and Kenmare. The Minister of State is very familiar with these, and he is very much on top of his brief, to be fair. I commend him on his interest and on what he is doing. I hope the Government gives him more funding to carry out all these works.

Sentiment score: 0.06

I was co-opted onto Kerry County Council in January 1990 following the untimely passing of my father. My very first motion was in regard to coastal erosion. That day I referenced Rossbeigh and Cromane. It is ironic that I am speaking all these years later about the same areas. I acknowledge the money that has been spent over the years, but we are talking about now. We are talking about the present and the future. It is like the old saying that a stitch in time saves nine. Again, I am pleading with the Minister of State to allocate the necessary funding to Kerry County Council. We have a proven track record in the quality of the work along with the Minister of State's colleagues in the OPW. I want to emphasise that because I have seen their projects first hand and how good the completed project is. The businesses in Killorglin town along the River Laune are subject to tidal flooding and they are living in fear as well. It is a huge problem, not just in Kerry but nationally. There is an urgent need for funding to be made available. I ask the Government to make additional funding available to the Minister of State's Department because I know he will spend it, and it will be spent properly. I thank the Minister of State for his work. The top priority in Kerry - this is coming up at every single meeting of Kerry County Council and I have raised it here - is the residents of Cromane. They will have to relocate if they do not get help now. The damage this does is accompanied by fear and anxiety. Paschal Sheehy has covered the flooding in Cromane live on national television. I want to make sure that does not happen again and the only way that will be resolved is by funding being provided for the locations I have mentioned.

Sentiment score: 0.04