With questions now being raised about the delays in providing compensation to victims affected by the severe weather experienced between November 2009 and January 2010, the release of the Joint Committee Report on the handling of the crisis is sure t
o cause a few headaches for the Government.
In the concluding section of the 45 page report, published yesterday (Tuesday), the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, slams the overall response to the flooding and snow conditions as "unacceptable".
While acknowledging that severe weather events are a natural phenomenon, the Joint Committee stressed that "Managing severe weather events is not simply about reaction. It means planning for them, understanding and effectively managing and mitigating the risks prior to them occurring, putting the resources of the State into dealing with their effects swiftly and effectively when they occur, and taking the further steps necessary to mitigate the effects of similar future events."
The Joint Committee acknowledged there were several "very positive dimensions in relation to both prior preparation and response", namely the tireless work of individuals, communities, businesses, charitable groups and State organisations during the severe weather, it points out that "many people's lives, were negatively affected by the weather events and to extents that could and should have been avoided."
Local authorities such as Leitrim County Council came in for praise for their rapid response to both the flooding and cold. They were also praised for their rapid dissemination of information to other bodies, the media and the public and for their efforts to provide ongoing emergency responses such as sandbag distribution, the provision of clean water and road gritting, despite the huge financial burden it imposed.
The response of some State bodies however, attracted criticism for their repeated tendency "to define their responsibilities more in terms of what they do not include rather than what they do," when taking part in the deliberations of the Joint Committee.
The Framework for Major Emergency Management also came in for criticism for being "complex and confusing to those unfamiliar with it" and said it did not clearly answer the question of "just who is in charge?".
While it accepted the OPW was the lead agency for flood risk management, the Report slammed "the number and range of State bodies that have powers or responsibilities regarding inland waterways and the fragmentation of regional structures within individuals catchments".
Building on floodplains without proper advance consideration as to how this might affect local drainage and river systems was also highlighted but the Joint Committee added that guidelines to address this in future "are only as effective as the people implementing them".
While it was also accepted that the Department of the Environment Heritage and Local Government had provided supplementary funding for the immediate after-effects of the severe weather, questions were raised about the financing of long term issues such as the damage to regional and county roads, for which no supplementary funding has been provided.
Ultimately, it noted, flood and severe weather preparation costs money and without effective resourcing any system put in place to deal with such events, will fail, leaving communities open to the potential of further problems in the future.
Fine Gael Spokesperson for Community, Equality & Gaeltacht Affairs, Frank Feighan said that the failure, to date, of the Government in providing funding to those affected by the flooding and snow, was especially worrying.
He noted that assurances had been made that businesses directly affected would be given funding but "despite numerous representations by myself, this funding hasn't appeared", he said, "the silence is deafening".
He also stressed the need for additional funding to allow local authorities to adequately deal with the damage to infrastructure arising from the weather.
The Roscommon/south Leitrim Deputy added there was clearly a need to look at providing flood relief measures for Carrick-on-Shannon and Leitrim Village in particularly but he added that proper water management was essential.
"We need to look at the way water is managed in bodies such as Lough Allen and down the Shannon. It is clear from this report that a lot of the response was fragmented and haphazard and this needs to be addressed," he said.
