Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central, Micheál Martin TD, has called on the Minister for Agriculture to follow through on his commitment that a special fund would be established for businesses that were affected by the recent floods in Cork.
Businesses in Douglas and other areas of Cork were severely hit by the floods on June 28, with many still shut.
Deputy Martin commented: “Minister Coveney stood before business owners in Douglas at the start of the month and promised that a special fund would be established to help alleviate the huge financial costs as a result of the flooding at the end of June.
“I welcome the fact that the Government has announced a special humanitarian fund, which will greatly help many of the residents affected by the floods. However, many businesses will not be able to avail of the funding as it only applies to uninsured homeowners and not businesses.
“Those businesses that were underinsured or uninsured have nowhere to turn for help. Minister Coveney needs to make good on his promise now as the costs have already been borne by the majority of businesses. It is not good enough to make an empty promise, businesses need funding as a matter of urgency.
“There are also concerns about the amount of money being administered to residents, the average payment made from the humanitarian fund from the Dublin floods was just €790. This seems wholly inadequate and there needs to be a rethink as to how the assistance is administered.”