Angry Midleton locals tell Taoiseach €10m flood package will 'not nearly be enough' 

Clearly angry but notably very respectful, business and home owners pleaded with the Taoiseach on the Main Street to release funds without having to worry about bureaucratic red tape.

Mr Varadkar said: "It's very hard to know what to say. I have visited a few places affected by floods in the past but this is particularly bad. Water levels rose very high, it came very quickly, and of course a lot of the water is dirty so a lot of damage done to businesses here, to homes as well. Understandably, a lot of people very upset and very angry."

A financial package to assist damaged properties and businesses that cannot get insurance will be made available, he said.

It will initially consist of €5,000 to help with the immediate damage, with a further €20,000 also available after that. However, the €20,000 limit will need to rise, Mr Varadkar admitted.

"I think we'll have to increase that limit because the level of damage to stock here, particularly to people who bought stock in for Christmas, is very high," he said.

However, he added there would "have to be checks and balances" regarding the limits.

When asked how much would be available in the financial aid package overall, Mr Varadkar said he "can't say at this stage".

"There's an initial allocation of €10m to help families and businesses that are affected, and clubs and voluntary organisations, but it is not capped at €10m, that's just the initial allocation that's made.

"What I've asked the council to do is to really carry out an assessment of the damage to the public infrastructure, in particular the roads and bridges, send it into us, and then we'll have to make a special allocation to cover that," he said.

Business owners told Mr Varadkar directly that the damage to individual premises was already in the hundreds of thousands and €5,000 or even €20,000 would come "nowhere near" what it needed.

Mr Varadkar said he did not want to give a timeline he "cannot stand over" for the Midleton flood relief scheme, currently due to begin in 2025.

"We've done about 50 flood relief schemes in places like Douglas and Togher and Bandon and they work. There's another 90 that are in progress... but we can't cut corners on them.

"There are environmental issues, there are very often objections, and very often they end up in court as well. This one here in Midleton, preliminary works are under way, environmental assessment is under way, and we intend to put in a funding application for next year.

"But we can't control whether or not people object, we can't control environmental issues, and we can't control the fact that sometimes it ends up in court. So I don't want to give people timelines that I can't necessarily stand over, but what I can say is that the scheme is being progressed as quickly as possible."