Cabinet considering €10m flood relief scheme
The Cabinet will today discuss plans for an emergency fund of €10m euro to help victims of flooding.
Further funding could also be pledged if the damage from recent rain and high tides costs even more to repair.
A senior engineer with Clare County Council says damage to national public infrastructure caused by this winter's weather could amount to €100m.
Meanwhile, residents and businesses in Cork City are being told to brace themselves for more flooding today.
The city council has issued a tidal flood alert as the River Lee reaches high tide this morning and tonight.
Low lying areas of Cork city centre are expected to experience flooding, particularly along the quays.
Retailers have been provided with sandbags to help protect their shops from the tidal waters.
Brid Long of the Liam Ruiséal Book Shop on Oliver Plunkett Strret said the council hasn't fulfilled its promises of better flood defences.
"They're on about doing some work to remedy this, but this is ongoing for years," she said.
"We thought there was work done about ten years ago - we actually haven't had water into the shop since then, and we thought that this had helped us."
Meanwhile, a climatologist at NUI Maynooth has warned the sea level is rising, and that could mean long-term or even permanent flood problems.
"Once this kind of sequence gets established in the winter, history tells us it can last a number of weeks without changing," he said.
"It will take quite a shift in the jet stream [for a change] and at this time of the year, that might mean colder and snowier conditions."
The sea level is rising by an average of 3mm per year - amounting to about 70-80cm in the next 50 to 60 years.
