Issued : Tuesday 20 July, 2010

Labour Party Town Councillor for Bandon, Gearóid Buckley, has welcomed the publication of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment’s report into the management of the flooding crisis last year.

Cllr. Buckley said, ‘I welcome the publication of this report, which has been some months in the making. As a report goes, it is an indictment of “the complex and confusing” framework under which the State responds to such emergencies.

‘We are very lucky that there wasn’t loss of life or serious injury last November in Bandon. There was complete chaos, with no chain of command in place. If it wasn’t for the local community banding together the damage would have been much worse.

‘What the people of Bandon want now is positive and purposeful action. We have had enough reports. It is clear for everyone to see what went wrong. Funding for short and long term flood relief measures needs to be fast-tracked. A proper system of communication and warning needs to be put in place. As the report recommends, local emergency plans need to be devised.

‘I hope Minister Gormley will take this report very seriously but, more importantly, I hope that he will act upon its recommendations. Nine months on from the flooding, very little has happened to ease the concerns of the people of Bandon. Right now the residents and traders of Bandon are facing into a very uncertain winter and many of them are without any insurance this time.’