Give flood-hit families a grant to quit homes and relocate, says TD

They have "reached the end of their tether - I think there has to be an 'out' for them", said Clare Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley.

"There is a necessity to look to compensate people who might no longer wish to live in a place like this."

He acknowledged that "not enough" work was done during successive Fianna Fail-led governments to tackle flood-plain issues.

He was speaking as water levels continued to rise on the River Shannon following another 24 hours of torrential rainfall.

Heavy

Met Eireann offered a glimmer of hope that today "will be wet, but not in a significant way".

"Today will bring occasional showers over Munster and south Leinster, but further rain elsewhere with a few heavy bursts in places. The rain will become slow moving over Ulster by early evening as another band of rain will move into the southwest," Gerald Fleming said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State with responsibility for the response to flooding, Simon Harris, vowed that all river-dredging options will be examined in a bid to ease the severity of flooding.

But he also warned that any dredging would have to be undertaken "within the law" given environmental issues, including protection of fish stocks.

He visited flood-hit Bandon, Co Cork yesterday.

"I am not here to sell anything - I am here to level with people," Mr Harris said.

"We have a national flood plan and we have 300 areas that have been identified as at risk of flooding. We are going to spend €430m on flood relief over the next five years, which is more than in the previous 20 years," he said.