Cork flood relief payments set to exceed €70,000

Business owners whose premises were badly damaged by last week’s floods in east Cork will each be entitled to apply for payments with a maximum “in excess of €70,000″ under a new plan being finalised by Simon Coveney.

The Minister for Enterprise will bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday morning which, according to sources with knowledge of the plan, will offer payments that are “multiples” of the current €20,000 cap under existing business flood-relief schemes.

When asked, a source said a final figure had yet to be established but confirmed that the maximum payout would be “in excess of €70,000″.

At present, under the business scheme, a payment of €5,000 is available without assessment and up to €20,000 after a full assessment has been made.

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[ ‘It’s like a hurricane came into the shop’: Midleton retailers count the cost of floods ]

The Government is expected to approve increased “quick” supports of up to €10,000 and then payments after full assessment that are capped at “multiples” of the current €20,000 ceiling.

The proposed increases were agreed by Mr Coveney, in consultation with Cabinet colleagues, as the scale of the damage in east Cork became apparent.

Another emergency scheme for householders with €10 million in funding, administered by the Red Cross, is already in operation but it is expected the Cabinet may also increase the maximum payable under that fund.

Two local TDs, James O’Connor of Fianna Fáil and David Stanton of Fine Gael, have separately estimated that as many as 600 homes and businesses have been badly damaged by the flooding, mostly in Midleton but also in towns and villages such as Mogeely, Killagh, Inch, Cloyne and Silverbridge. They said that some roads in Co Cork had also collapsed.

[ Why was the Storm Babet flooding so bad? ]

Mr O’Connor told The Irish Times on Sunday that the overall cost of the flooding could reach €100 million. He and fellow Fianna Fáil TD Pádraig O’Sullivan have called for centres providing advice on supports to be established.

The moves on Government supports on Sunday came as the people in areas worst affected by Storm Babet in recent days braced themselves for further heavy rain overnight and the possibility of renewed flooding.

Met Éireann also issued an orange weather warning for counties Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford between 4am on Monday and 4am on Tuesday, citing the possibility of “heavy and persistent rain with thundery downpours”. It said there was a risk of flooding, dangerous travel conditions and poor visibility, with Co Waterford the most likely to be impacted.