Sinn Fein is calling for more to be done to tackle flooding throughout Ireland.

Cork South-Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire also urged the Government to expedite capital investment in flood defences including suburban areas of Cork.

He said: "Significant floods has been a fact of life in Cork for years, causing significant cost and distress for many residents and businesses. We all remember in particular the major floods of 2009, causing €100m worth of damage.

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"We have also had major floods in suburban areas, such as the major incident in Douglas and Togher in 2012.

"Yesterday the Minister announced the €140m Flood Relief Project for Cork City, which is very welcome. I will be examining the detail of it closely to see if it is satisfactory."

"But residents and businesses will need to see the benefits of this in terms of confidence, their pockets, and in terms of insurance cover. I know that in other parts of the country, that even where demountable or movable flood defences have been put in place to provide protection, insurers still refuse to offer cover. This is ludicrous.

"In other places it can be prohibitively expensive even where flood cover is available.

"We need to see this tackled, and we need to put the insurance industry under pressure to give residents and businesses a fair deal."

(CD/LM)