There is a call for the Finance Minister to allocate part of the infrastructure budget to flood protection measures. 

The Green Party says the commitment to put the money towards water and housing in the budget is the right move.

It's welcoming a focus on housing after Minister Jack Chambers signalled a €3 billion boost to infrastructure spending. 

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan is calling for it to be used to improve the water system and to tackle flooding:

“I think water and flooding, which would be related to that, is also a key area,” she told Newstalk.

“We have a creaking water system that wasn't enjoying the kind of investment it needed over the last few decades.

“That is something that would materially benefit the housing sector, but also a focus on flooding.”

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan speaking to the media in the Raddisson Blu Hotel, Dublin in January 2020. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Deputy Hourigan noted another necessity.

“What we really need, actually, is maybe a 25-year national flood plan,” she said.

“That would benefit both housing and the farming sector, and that would be a key area for investment in the coming years.”

Infrastructure demand

She described the €3 billion boost, which will come through the sale of State-owned AIB shares, as an “interesting development.”

“I think the commitment to push it towards infrastructure, particularly around water and housing, is the right one,” she said.

“Obviously, there is a huge pent-up demand for the type of infrastructure investment that we need in this country, and certainly a focus on housing is to be welcomed.”

Budget 2025 is just around the corner, taking place on October 1st, a week earlier than usual.