Cooley Peninsula flood payout 'in the coming weeks' - Heydon
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has said that funds for those impacted by flooding on the Cooley Peninsula will be released "in the coming weeks".
In response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD for Louth, Erin McGreehan, Minister Heydon said inspections of the areas impacted are now complete.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is in the process of completing "administrative checks".
The 2023 Flood Damage Relief Measure was implemented in response to damage to agricultural areas in the Cooley Peninsula, between October 29 and November 4, 2023.
Louth native, Erin McGreehan said she has been working with DAFM since the flooding in 2023 to provide relief to farmers.
“It became clear immediately [after the flooding], that there were supports for householders and business. There was no scheme that I could point to, to say this is the scheme that we can click into to get support for farmers," she said.
“Bureaucracy and the wheels of government turn slowly. For me, it was a battle to make sure it was recognised and that we got some funding.
"In principle, there was something similar done before in the Inishowen [Co. Donegal] community. So I said, ‘we have precedent, let’s work on it’,” McGreehan added.
The Fianna Fáil TD said she worked with the previous agriculture minister, Charlie McConalogue, to get a relief payment set up for farmers.
“The stumbling block was to get DEPR [Department of Public Expenditure and Reform] to sign off on it, because it wasn’t in the Department of Agriculture's budget," she added.
"It had to be signed off because it was external to the department’s remit. All of these things take time unfortunately.
“I wish farmers were paid by now. I was told they’d be paid in a couple of weeks. I’ve nothing to say that won’t happen, time will tell.”
Going forward, McGreehan said putting a relief scheme in place for farmers is her "priority".
"It was in the Fianna Fáil manifesto and it’s a priority for me. Like the one for business, the humanitarian schemes, they are in legislation that a cabinet can sign off on them straight away. We need this for agriculture,” she concluded.
