Cork flood protection group seeks meeting with minister over Babet payouts

A spokesperson for Midleton and East Cork residents and businesses impacted by flooding caused by Storm Babet has said the group is seeking a meeting with the minister for social protection to raise the importance of making humanitarian assistance funding more accessible and fit for purpose.

Caroline Leahy, who is secretary of the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group, said that residents of Midleton and the wider hinterland had struggled with delays and payments which did not meet the costs they had incurred in restoring their properties after the flooding and extensive damage caused by Storm Babet in October 2023.

“They’ve [residents] gotten to the point that they had no choice but to accept what they’ve been given really, but it doesn’t come next or near in a lot of cases to what they need,” she said.

According to Ms Leahy, the application process for humanitarian assistance was overly bureaucratic and sought information which was ultimately irrelevant.

She referred to the requirement in the application form to get three quotes from builders and other tradespeople to carry out the necessary work.

“It was very difficult to get people to come and look at the work that needed to be done and estimate a cost — but in the end the department sent out its own assessor and they ignored the estimates of the tradespeople,” she said.

Ms Leahy claimed that in one case, the assessor recommended that payment be made for the carpet to cover four steps of the stairs — as that was all that had been flooded.

Ms Leahy pointed out that the houses impacted could not get insurance because they had been flooded previously and a flood protection scheme had not been put in place since.

“The latest date we have for a flood protection scheme in Midleton is 2032 which is what we were told at a meeting with Cork County Council last week,” she said.

In a response to a query from The Echo, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme was activated to provide to people in counties Cork and Waterford for those impacted by Storm Babet in October 2023.

“Community welfare officers are still processing 18 applications, due to additional information being required from the applicant or where it is necessary to involve the services of a loss adjuster,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“The community welfare staff are paying close attention to all claims received and claims, when finalised, are being processed as quickly as is possible.”