Labour leader and Tánaiste Joan Burton gets a closer look at the floods that have devastated Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, after the boat she and Rural Affairs Minister Ann Phelan were travelling in struck a rock and overturned Photo: Dylan Vaughan

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned homeowners that they may have to move away from areas worst affected by repeat flooding and relocate to higher ground.

Making his first visit to the areas worst-hit by the aftermath of Storm Frank, the Taoiseach outlined the radical proposal.

He said that a relocation plan may have to be implemented to move people away from areas that flood regularly.

"The question you have to look at is if it is possible to do minor drainage and minor relief works around some houses that are currently surrounded," he said.

"If it is not, is it a question of a relocation policy, perhaps to higher ground," he added.

"These are things that need to be looked at because you cannot have a situation where people are facing this on an annual basis."

The Taoiseach's remarks come after he visited the worst affected householders in Athlone yesterday.

He also defended his decision to wait before visiting the most heavily flooded parts of the country.

However, he refused to say if emergency response funds would be topped up.

"The important thing here is that the plan and the strategy that the Government have put in place is working," he said.

Tánaiste Joan Burton also visited flood-hit Thomastown in Co Kilkenny, and got closer than she anticipated to the waterlogged streets.

She and Junior Minister Ann Phelan were soaked when they were tipped out of a canoe and into the icy waters overflowing from the River Nore.

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent can reveal that flood defences around the country are running behind schedule - some by up to two years.

Schemes across seven counties are overdue because of delays in completing detailed designs or a failure to appoint consultants to oversee projects.

Irish Independent