Minister: More support to be offered to flooded businesses and home owners
Michael McGrath said many businesses in Midleton had their Christmas stock ‘destroyed’.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ireland’s Minister for Finance said a proposal is being worked on to increase the level of support that will be offered to those affected by flooding in Co Cork.
Michael McGrath said money will be available through a scheme to be administered by the Red Cross “from next week”.
This currently offers an initial 5,000 euro and further support of up to 20,000 euro based on the scale of damage.
Mr McGrath said many businesses in Midleton had their “destroyed” Christmas stock out on the street.
“The assessment of the full scale of the damage to homes and businesses will take some time, but the support will be there and that is the overarching message,” Mr McGrath told RTE Radio on Friday.
“We do have to ensure, insofar as we can, that all of these businesses that were viable before two days ago can trade into the future.”
Mr McGrath said “there will be a need to go further” because “many” businesses did not have flooding insurance because of previous flooding.
He said a proposal was being worked on by Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney which he expected would offer “an increased level of support” and go to Cabinet next Tuesday.
“The majority of the businesses (in Midleton) are severely damaged or destroyed, so this is on a scale that we haven’t seen in recent times, and so the response will have to be of a different nature and a different magnitude.”
A major clean-up operation is underway to deal with the aftermath of flooding that swamped several towns and villages in Ireland’s southwest during the week.
Army and civil defence units were deployed to support evacuation measures in the Cork town of Midleton following the storm.
On Friday, Cork County Council said there is a high risk of further flooding in Midleton, and that levels of the Owenacurra river, located near the Woodlands Estate, “are being closely monitored”.
Residents of the estate have been advised to be on “high alert” and people have been told to avoid parts of the town.
A status yellow rain warning for Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford has been lifted after being in place overnight.
A status yellow rain warning for Dublin, Louth, Meath, Wicklow and Kerry is in place until 9pm on Friday, which Irish forecaster Met Eireann said could lead to flooding and dangerous travelling conditions.
A status yellow rain warning for Northern Ireland is in place until 9am on Saturday.
The Met Office said showers or longer spells of rain could lead to lead to some disruption, particularly for eastern areas.
Mr McGrath and Mr Coveney visited areas affected by the flooding in their home county of Cork on Thursday.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.