Almost 30 applications made for emergency funding in county Cork following flooding events

CLOSE to 30 applications have been made for emergency humanitarian funding following flooding in Cork since August.

The fund was announced following flooding incidents in west Cork in August, particularly in Skibbereen and Bantry.

27 applications have been received, with 17 already deemed successful.

There were four unsuccessful applications.

Some are still pending.

The fund is being administered by the Irish Red Cross on behalf of the government. The aim of the scheme is to provide up to €20,000 for emergency repairs and replacement of stock or equipment. The funding was designed to provide assistance for people who have not been able to secure flood insurance.

Fine Gael’s Senator Tim Lombard said he will be raising the issue of flood insurance with the Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohoe.

Senator Lombard said: “The biggest issue for people is not being able to get flood insurance. I want to ensure that insurance companies will not disenfranchise people affected by flooding. I will be raising it with Minister Donohoe to make sure businesses will not be blacklisted when it comes to insurance.” 

Meanwhile, a Gofundme campaign set up for families affected by the flooding of businesses in Cork city last month has reached more than €3,300.

The fund was set up by Corkman Cian Power, who will hand the funds over to the Cork city branch of the St Vincent de Paul in the coming days.

He said he was delighted with the response from the public.

When he set up the campaign initially, he planned to raise €1,000 but has raised his target to €4,000 following the interest shown in supporting business people and their families.

The October 20 flooding occurred just as businesses were preparing to close under level 5 public health restrictions.