CORK LABOUR TD Ciarán Lynch has reiterated his call for an independent inquiry into the causes of November flooding in Cork following conflicting statements about flood warnings to businesses and residents in Cork city and county.
According to Mr Lynch, clarification is required after comments by ESB chief executive Padraig McManus before a joint Oireachtas committee about the warnings given by the company to Cork City Council prompted a strong rebuke from Cork city manager Joe Gavin.
“The ESB claim that they gave as much advance warning to local authorities as was possible in the circumstances, while the city council would dispute that. We need to bring in expert opinion so that we can get to the bottom of this once and for all,” he said.
Mr McManus told the committee on Tuesday that the company had no choice but to release large volumes of water from Inniscarra Dam on November 19th last and Mr Gavin’s report to Cork City Council in December sought to shift responsibility for the flooding on to the ESB.
However, Mr Gavin strongly refuted suggestions that he sought to blame the ESB for the flooding. He said he had studiously avoided apportioning blame to anyone for the flooding which is estimated to have caused €100 million worth of damage in Cork.
“At no time did I blame the ESB or seek to do so, and I assiduously avoided addressing any queries raised by the media which related to the management of the ESB dams,” said Mr Gavin, adding that contrary to what was reported his report did not criticise the ESB.
Mr Gavin said he had briefed the ESB on the contents of the report before presenting it to councillors and invited them to verify its accuracy. Moreover, on the day after it was issued a written copy was sent to the ESB and since then they had not raised any issue over its accuracy.
“It was a factual account of the event. It contained no opinion, attached no blame, and the only reference it made to the ESB was to thank them for their co-operation and for their offer to supply flat-bottomed trucks to help with water distribution,” he said.
An ESB spokeswoman said the Minister for the Environment was conducting an inquiry and the ESB was happy to participate in it.