THE €10 MILLION in emergency funding for those affected by the flooding crisis will be increased if necessary, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said yesterday.
Responding to suggestions that the funds allotted for humanitarian aid and emergency works was inadequate, Mr Cowen said “flexibility” was the byword for the response of Government and of all agencies.
“We want to assist people. There are immediate problems of clothing, of bedding, of shelter, providing accommodation. All of that is being done,” he said.
“You have to establish that priority in the first instance. When we get hopefully, as soon as possible, to a clean-up phase we will then be able to assess what is the damage that has been done.
“Humanitarian aid that we have provided funding for initially of €10 million – that obviously will continue to be looked at to meet demands and requirements,” he added.
Mr Cowen was speaking in Athlone during a tour of affected areas that included his own county, Offaly, some flooded farmland in east Galway and Roscommon, as well as Athlone, which has been badly affected by flooding.
While in Athlone, he met the county managers of Westmeath, Roscommon and Leitrim to be briefed on the situation in each county.
At least 100 houses are under water in Athlone. Moreover, some 13 to 14 people had to be evacuated from their homes close to the Shannon.
He was also briefed on the continuing difficulties with flood waters in Carrick-on-Shannon and in Leitrim village.
Earlier in the day, Mr Cowen visited Banagher and Shannonbridge in Co Offaly to view the flooding at first-hand. In the Portavolla housing estate in Banagher, which he visited during the early morning, all but one house had been evacuated.
The Taoiseach said that for the moment the situation needed to be managed on a day-by-day basis, until such time as the rains abated and the floods receded somewhat.
“The hope is that if we can get respite for two or three days it will stabilise the situation. As you know the weather pattern is changing all the time and it’s difficult to predict.”
He said there was legitimate worry and concern among families discommoded by the situation. He said questions about whether or not the level of the river Shannon is maintained at higher than necessary levels would only be addressed once the immediate problem was dealt with.
“What you are seeing here and everywhere I have been going throughout the country is people dealing with the everyday day-to-day issues that are arising out of flooding and housing,” he said.
He said the emergency operation was working because the response was local, with a high degree of co-ordination and community co-operation.