Flood Relief Schemes
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

I agree with the Senator. I know that the Minister, Deputy Browne, agrees with the Senator that the town has lived with flood risks for too long. The consent refusal in 2022 was a setback for the town. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, not to reduce environmental protection, because nobody wants to do that, but to reduce the bureaucracy that comes with planning and development in this country. We are engaging with European colleagues on this. There is a whole agenda in the European Union at the moment in terms of simplification and reducing the burden of rules. We want to protect the environment, nature and all of that, but all of these procedures take too long and are too complex. There are certainly occasions like this when the needs of human beings need to be prioritised. Let us see where this process goes. It is being treated urgently by the Government. I thank the Senator for raising the issue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29