The teams will be on hand to help communities in their efforts to protect their homes from flooding.
“Since 2009 when we last experienced severe flooding, we have rosters of IFA officers on standby who are willing to assist their neighbours in building flood defences,” said Turley.
“Any community that has sandbags and is in need of help to put them in place should make contact with their local IFA officer who will mobilise people to build them. Keeping water pumps going requires fresh hands and we will step in to give people who have been working around the clock a break.”
While the Government announced an emergency flood fund last week, farmers calls for relief funding have not yet been answered.
Assistance available for flooding damage
Humanitarian Assistance
Under the Department of Protection's Humanitarian Assistance scheme households can apply for funding to relieve the burden of flooding damage. The means tested scheme provides funding to successful applicants for essential household contents such as carpets, furtniture and bedding.
The income test determines your household’s ability to meet the costs of restoring your home to a habitable condition.
If, as a single person, you have a gross household income of €30,000 or less you will get 100% of the amount allowable. For each whole €1,000 of household income above €30,000 you will be required to make a 1% contribution to the amount allowable.
If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting and have a household income of €50,000 or less you will get 100% of the amount allowable. For each whole €1,000 of household income above €50,000 you will be required to make a 1% contribution to the amount allowable.
The income limits are increased by €10,000 for each qualified child.
Red Cross
The Government has announced details of a scheme to provide emergency humanitarian support to small businesses that have been unable to secure flood insurance.
The scheme is targeted at small businesses (up to 20 employees) and will have two stages:
1. The first stage will commence immediately and will provide a contribution of up to €5,000, depending on the scale of damage incurred.
2. In the event that businesses have incurred significant damages above €5,000, the second stage will provide a means to seek further support. However, this will be a more lengthy process requiring a detailed assessment, information regarding this process will be available at a later stage.
The total level of support available for both stages combined will be capped at €20,000.
Application forms can be found at
https://www.redcross.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Irish-Red-Cross-Emergency-Humanitarian-Support-Scheme-2015-Application-Form-Final1.pdf and must be returned to the Red Cross via post (The Irish Red Cross Society, Emergency Flooding 2015, 16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2) or email (emergencyflooding2015@redcross.ie) by Friday 15 January 2016.
Teagasc will convene a meeting of all stakeholders in Athlone at 2pm on Monday. Tom Turley said he would be reiterating his call for a single authority for the management of our river systems to avoid inflicting more hardship on communities.
At an emergency meeting of Cloonown IFA in Co Roscommon on Thursday 10 December, farmers expressed huge frustration with lack of action from authorities in clearing the Shannon.
Read more
Full coverage: Storm Desmond flooding
The teams will be on hand to help communities in their efforts to protect their homes from flooding.
“Since 2009 when we last experienced severe flooding, we have rosters of IFA officers on standby who are willing to assist their neighbours in building flood defences,” said Turley.
“Any community that has sandbags and is in need of help to put them in place should make contact with their local IFA officer who will mobilise people to build them. Keeping water pumps going requires fresh hands and we will step in to give people who have been working around the clock a break.”
While the Government announced an emergency flood fund last week, farmers calls for relief funding have not yet been answered.
Assistance available for flooding damage
Humanitarian Assistance
Under the Department of Protection's Humanitarian Assistance scheme households can apply for funding to relieve the burden of flooding damage. The means tested scheme provides funding to successful applicants for essential household contents such as carpets, furtniture and bedding.
The income test determines your household’s ability to meet the costs of restoring your home to a habitable condition.
If, as a single person, you have a gross household income of €30,000 or less you will get 100% of the amount allowable. For each whole €1,000 of household income above €30,000 you will be required to make a 1% contribution to the amount allowable.
If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting and have a household income of €50,000 or less you will get 100% of the amount allowable. For each whole €1,000 of household income above €50,000 you will be required to make a 1% contribution to the amount allowable.
The income limits are increased by €10,000 for each qualified child.
Red Cross
The Government has announced details of a scheme to provide emergency humanitarian support to small businesses that have been unable to secure flood insurance.
The scheme is targeted at small businesses (up to 20 employees) and will have two stages:
1. The first stage will commence immediately and will provide a contribution of up to €5,000, depending on the scale of damage incurred.
2. In the event that businesses have incurred significant damages above €5,000, the second stage will provide a means to seek further support. However, this will be a more lengthy process requiring a detailed assessment, information regarding this process will be available at a later stage.
The total level of support available for both stages combined will be capped at €20,000.
Application forms can be found at
https://www.redcross.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Irish-Red-Cross-Emergency-Humanitarian-Support-Scheme-2015-Application-Form-Final1.pdf and must be returned to the Red Cross via post (The Irish Red Cross Society, Emergency Flooding 2015, 16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2) or email (emergencyflooding2015@redcross.ie) by Friday 15 January 2016.
Teagasc will convene a meeting of all stakeholders in Athlone at 2pm on Monday. Tom Turley said he would be reiterating his call for a single authority for the management of our river systems to avoid inflicting more hardship on communities.
At an emergency meeting of Cloonown IFA in Co Roscommon on Thursday 10 December, farmers expressed huge frustration with lack of action from authorities in clearing the Shannon.
Read more
Full coverage: Storm Desmond flooding
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