Louth TD welcomes Government pledge to put flood relief schemes on permanent footing

Louth Labour TD and the party’s enterprise spokesperson Ged Nash has welcomed a pledge he received from enterprise Minister Simon Coveney that the ad hoc business flood relief schemes will be placed on a permanent footing.

Deputy Nash said: “Last week I called on the Minister to organise fast access to the Emergency and the Enhanced Business Flooding Schemes for North Louth businesses and households as they began to count the cost of the recent catastrophic flooding event.

“I told him that the requirement for a memorandum to Cabinet to enable a fresh business funding scheme to be set up in response to every new flooding event is no way to do business.

“This is simply not sustainable in light of the clear impact of the climate emergency on Ireland as evidenced by the devastating flooding experienced in various counties over the last few weeks.

“In a parliamentary question response from the Minister, Minister Coveney has stated that providing legislation for a permanent, statutory scheme is a priority for his department and I look forward to this promised legislation being brought forward without delay."

Deputy Nash concluded: “These schemes have been in place on an ad-hoc basis since 2018 and with the frequency of flooding increasing and growing numbers of householders and businesses unable to obtain insurance through no fault of their own, it is imperative that these schemes are provided as a matter of right and without the need for complex administrative red-tape to permit a community to avail of them.

“All of this being said, it is also incumbent of the government not to let the insurance industry off the hook and for all the costs of the impact of flooding to be socialised.

“The government needs to eyeball the industry and be clear to them that they must step up to the mark too.”