Despite the fact that the flooding crisis has gone off the front pages, there are still a lot of people badly affected and the solutions to the flooding will be a complex matter and will involve local solutions to local problems.
There is no simple solution to the prevention of flooding into the future. There are specific problems in each area, and if the OPW are serious about solving this problem then they have to listen to the local people in each area as they know best the problems that exist. Looking at satellite maps and sitting in an office in front of a lap top is not going to solve the problems that we have seen over the past few months. The people on the ground have to be properly consulted. Funding to repair damaged roads will also have to be found as the flood waters recede. Also, we have to ensure that families, small farmers and small businesses who have been badly affected by the flooding receive the compensation that they were promised at the height of the crisis when the TV cameras were there and the photo calls with Ministers and others were going on.