€70,000 in flood relief for businesses 'likely not enough' - Chamber

The Government's proposed relief offering of €70,000 for businesses impacted by the recent flooding would likely not be enough, President of Midleton Chamber of Commerce Adrianna Hegarty has said.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Hegarty said: "Different businesses have faced losses, so estimations will vary, so really over €70,000 probably, 70 will not be enough."

The Cabinet is to be presented with proposals for a new flood relief scheme for businesses with payments of more than €70,000 for extreme cases.

Ms Hegarty said many businesses have assessed the damage to their premises and in some cases the cost reaches over €100,000 or €200,000.

She said that despite the damage many firms have worked hard to restart operations and some are back up and running.

"Historically, businesses in Midleton have been very resilient, and we owe a huge amount to our local community who have been out in force helping," Ms Hegarty said.

"Families and even school children clearing debris, helping to clean, arriving with home-cooked food to keep everyone going while they salvage their properties."

She added that she thought financial payments from Cabinet would move fast.

"All of the ministers they have all been in Midleton," Ms Hegarty said.

"They have seen it, they know, and I think they will move fast. I have faith.

"The engineers designing the flood defences were here when it happened.

"And they were happy that the designs that they have ready would have worked with slight modifications, so it is really about getting past planning is the next stage, which is likely to slow things down, so that just needs to be expedited."

Currently, traders impacted by flooding can avail of a scheme that has a cap of €20,000, which includes a €5,000 quick payment.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney said this scheme would be for places which had been affected by flooding, but not badly.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Colm Ó Mongáin, Mr Coveney said those amounts were not "appropriate" for badly-hit businesses, and a second scheme would offer around double the initial payment and "multiples" of the €20,000 after that - possibly more than €70,000.

Householders can access relief through the Humanitarian Assistance Programme, administered by the Department of Social Protection.

Mr Coveney said that Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys would bring a proposal to a meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow to increase the threshold in order to qualify for the means-tested scheme.

Talks took place late last night involving senior Government figures, including Minister Coveney and Minister for Finance Michael McGrath.

A memo is to be presented to the Cabinet meeting with details of this new scheme for flood-hit businesses.

It is expected that it will include a €10,000 quick payment and possible payments of in excess of €70,000.

These must be deemed necessary, independently audited and verified for the payments to be made.

Businesses cannot apply for both schemes while the €70,000 figure is considered a limit, according to the source.

It is expected that the majority of those worst-hit will receive payments of the order of €30,000 to €50,000.

Work on the finer details of the scheme will take place only after the Cabinet confirms the broad outlines of the scheme.

Current flood relief schemes 'not fit for purpose'

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the current flood relief schemes were not fit for purpose and that the intervention foreseen for the victims in Cork "will have to be on a scale that we haven't seen before".

Speaking in Luxembourg ahead of an EU meeting, he said: "This was a climate event of a huge scale, which has really devastated businesses in Middleton, community facilities in Glanmire, sporting facilities and households, in particular.

"Many people who had just bought their houses, having them destroyed. There are two schemes, one for households and one for businesses. We're looking at revising the existing schemes. We don't believe they're fit for purpose."

Mr Martin said he and other ministers had visited the area and saw the impact first hand.

"We listened to the people on the ground, both those living in homes and living in businesses and it's clear that something significantly extra is required here now, to enable households to get back into their homes, many are in hotels at the moment, and to enable businesses to get off the ground and their employees back working," he said.

The Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross said businesses affected by the flooding can get an application form for funding on the Red Cross website at www.redcross.ie/flood-support-scheme/

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Deirdre Garvey said the Red Cross is awaiting clarification about whether this is an "exceptional" scheme or if the current one will be used, or whether they will be integrated in some way.

In relation to householders, she said they have access to a scheme that is run and administered by the Department of Social Protection called the Humanitarian Assistance Programme and this scheme is already open for applications.