The Tánaiste Micheal Martin has said Cabinet will hold "urgent" talks to "accelerate" flood relief funding for people affected by Storm Babet, amid criticism the financial supports may not be enough.
Speaking to RTÉ News this evening, the Fianna Fáil leader and TD for Cork South Central promised those affected that help is on the way.
However, he also sounded a note of caution, saying while supports will be provided "as quickly as we possibly can", the reality is "assessments will have to be done in terms of the nature and scale" of the damage caused.
Asked by RTÉ News about the €5,000 support and whether it is enough for individuals, Mr Martin said it is important to note two support schemes exist for individuals and for businesses.
He said those funds are available, and that Government is keen to provide them as soon as possible.
"There's two schemes, there's one for business and one for households.
"We will obviously seek to accelerate the distribution, the allocation of that funding, and that's something we will work on," the Tánaiste said.
Earlier today, the Minister for Finance said the planning application for a comprehensive flood defence scheme for Midleton, Co Cork, will be launched early next year, but there is no guaranteed timeframe for the scheme.
Michael McGrath also said the assessment of damage as a result of the flooding in parts of Cork and Waterford will take some time, but support will be made available to those impacted soon.
He confirmed that those in need of financial support will receive it from next week.
It comes as Cork County Council warns of the possibility of further flooding in Midleton, particularly around the Woodlands Estate, after levels on the Owenacurra river rose following heavy rain overnight.
Business owners in Midleton have said they are "devastated" by the flooding and people in the town are "genuinely very angry" as the flooding was much worse than in December 2015, when another major flood occurred.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister McGrath said the planning application for the flood defence scheme will be launched in quarter one of 2024
He said where flood defence schemes have been completed, "they have worked, including in the last two days", including in Douglas, Togher, Fermoy, Mallow and Clonakilty.
He said more are needed and there is €1.3bn funding put aside in the National Development Plan to implement flood relief schemes, but delays have been "primarily in the statutory processes, objections, and then court challenges," he said.
The minister also said there is a long established scheme to support those impacted by flood events.
He said Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney is developing a proposal on this, which he will bring to Cabinet on Tuesday.
Mr McGrath said he expects this to include an increased level of support for those impacted by the flooding under that scheme.
He added that changes will need to be made to the scheme and the Government has already indicated that there is a willingness to do that.
The minister said it would "break your heart" to see the stock that was destroyed in the flooding, with skips full of destroyed goods and possessions, and to see the "anguish, frustration and anger" of many of business owners who are "deeply worried" about the future.
While he said the focus is "correctly" on Midleton, there are many parts of Cork and west Waterford affected, and there is a difficult journey ahead for many people.
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A GP in Midleton has said a lot of businesses "won't come back" unless they get "signficant" Government support.
Dr Mike Thompon from the Imokilly Medical Centre said there was around €94,000 in damaged goods and "today the harsh reality and the financial wallop that we are going to get is becoming apparent."
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said the roads are "just rivers of mud" and there are overflowing skips everywhere.
Dr Thompson said three of the six medical practices in the town were badly affected.
He said people's livelihoods in the town depend on financial support and there is a need for a "special injection" of funding to stay afloat.
He said hundreds of houses were also impacted.
Speaking in Midleton yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "There's an initial allocation of €10 million to help families and businesses that are affected, and clubs and voluntary organisations too, but it's not capped at €10 million, that's just the initial allocation that's made."
He said the level of damage to stock held by businesses in east Cork meant the limits of €5,000 for an initial payment and €20,000 for a follow up payment may have to be raised.
The President of Midleton Chamber of Commerce has said the cost of damage caused by the flooding in the town is around €200 million.
Adrianna Hegarty said: "We counted 150 (damaged) businesses and that's not counting other streets or housing developments that are very local.
"There is no flood insurance here, so a lot of people have to take the brunt of it themselves."
