These and other places affected by Storm Babet are a long way from normal service being resumed, and yesterday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pointed to possible obstacles in the way of flood prevention.

“I don’t know how many flood schemes [are] in the pipeline around the country,” he said. “Some are built, some are being built, and others are stuck in the planning process for one reason or another.”

That may be of little comfort to householders and businesspeople in the immediate aftermath of the flood, though the Taoiseach also indicated that financial help will be available to those affected.

However, preventing a repeat of such disasters must be a priority. On that score there are successful models to be followed in Cork, for instance — flood defence measures undertaken in Douglas and Mallow have proved successful, with those areas escaping the kind of inundation suffered by Blackpool and Glanmire this week.

Those last two areas also illustrate another layer to the problem, one deeper than simply acknowledging the biblical levels of rain that fell on Wednesday. The issue of natural flood plains and river courses being adversely affected by housing development will also come into focus in coming days.

After all, Blackpool derives its very name from ‘linn dubh’, the black pool, while the centre of Cork city is habitually referred to even now as the Marsh. Both names suggest watery foundations which might militate against good drainage, to put it mildly.

Climate change means more such weather events can be expected. At the very least, the built environment should not be exacerbating problems which occur as a result.

Revenue could help lift HSE hiring freeze

The vexed question of the sprawling, spiralling health budget continues to fester.

Earlier this week, there were rumblings audible within the Coalition itself as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael figures poked and prodded each other about responsibility for the colossal spending levels.

Yesterday, this newspaper reported that the HSE CEO Bernard Gloster has issued a directive to the effect that no new HSE deals with external management consultants can be put in place without his personal sign-off.

On the face of it, this is welcome news. The staggering figures being paid to management consultants by the health services are a regular source of astonishment, with the astonishment undiluted by the regularity of the revelations — it has been reported that consultants swallowed up €113m in 2022 alone, for instance.

The obvious question to ask is what improvements have been made in the health service as a result of those consultants’ well-paid work? The first-hand experience of many who use the health services does not suggest they are making much difference at all.

The fine print of this new decision raises some additional questions. It is not yet clear what exact criteria will be applied by Mr Gloster when evaluating such deals, or what precise form the approval process will take. There are also exemptions for some deals with consultants outside the HSE — those involving ICT and construction work, for instance.

If this move frees up revenue then it will be seen by most as a positive move. However, where should that extra revenue be deployed?

There is a hiring freeze on managerial appointments within the HSE at present, and another hiring freeze on hiring frontline staff such as doctors in training and carers. Extra revenue might help lift one of those hiring freezes.

It would surely be easy to predict which freeze the public would prefer to see lifted.

Exodus raises question of politics as career

The former Fianna Fáil and now Independent TD for Sligo, Marc MacSharry, announced this week that he would not be contesting the next election, and he is not alone.

MacSharry is a year younger than Seán Sherlock, the Labour TD for Cork East, who recently announced he would not be going forward at the next election either.

The same for Donegal TD Joe McHugh, Roscommon TD Denis Naughten, and Kerry TD Brendan Griffin, both of Fine Gael. McHugh and Naughten are both around 50; Griffin is in his 40s.

In some cases there is an obvious reason — Sherlock is losing much of his Mallow base in the redrawing of Cork’s constituencies — but it is striking that so many TDs approaching their political prime are leaving the arena.

By definition, new voices and ideas freshen up both political parties and the parliamentary process, and it is a basic principle that TDs should not have permanent tenure.

However, so many deputies leaving politics at a relatively early stage of their careers removes a cohort of politicians with the right combination of experience and age to make a difference either in the Dáil chamber or ministerial office.

Another question posed by these departures is how sustainable politics is as a career in the first place. Given their age profile, would a more family-friendly environment have been an incentive to stay in politics? And how many are turned off politics because it isn’t family-friendly?