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Minister hits back following flooding criticism

Thursday, 28 August 2008

MINISTER for the Environment, John Gormley, has hit back at criticisms from a local TD in relation to the series of flooding incidents that have deluged the Northside in recent weeks.
Last week, Minister Gormley vowed to issue new guidelines to ensure that building on floodplains would become a thing of the past.
However, Dublin North East TD Terence Flanagan (FG) took the minister to task over his “failure” to protect areas like Baldoyle with developers being allowed build over floodplains in recent years.
Deputy Flanagan, Fine Gael’s Housing spokesman, accused the minister of being completely out of touch with reality on the issue.
“The horse has bolted and the damage has been done,” Deputy Flanagan declared.
“Over the past 10 years builders and developers were allowed by Government to build on floodplains throughout the country, including the former Baldoyle flood plain in my own constituency.
“The minister talking about new guidelines is nothing short of diversion tactics.
“His comments are too little, too late and are little good for the now depressed property market, which has collapsed under our Fianna Fáil/Green Government.”
When contacted by Northside People, a spokesperson for Minister Gormley hit back at the comments and claimed that many of the problems raised were created by Fine Gael.
“The fact is that many councillors across the country, including many of Deputy Flanagan's Fine Gael colleagues, voted to rezone flood plains,” the spokesman stated.
He added that Minister Gormley could not undo rezoning decisions made in the past.
“But what he can do is prevent such mistakes happening in the future, which he is doing by issuing new planning guidelines.”
The Department of the Environment spokesperson said Minister Gormley is now fast-tracking a climate change adaptation strategy to put forward comprehensive measures aimed at minimising the impact of climate change, including flooding.
“It will take effort and investment to undo the planning mistakes of the past that were made by parties such as Fine Gael, and Minister Gormley is committed to this plan of action,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Flanagan believes that it may become impossible for some homeowners to get insurance for flood protection in the future.
“Minister Gormley needs to take urgent action to deal with this appalling situation and not just issue guidelines,” he added.

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