The progression of measures to mitigate flood risk in the Shannon River basin is a key priority for the Government. Currently, there are 13 completed flood relief schemes schemes in the Shannon River basin and these schemes are already providing protection to more than 2,600 properties. A further 36 schemes will be delivered as part of the Government’s €1.3 billion investment in flood relief measures over the lifetime of the NDP. Some 24 of these schemes are currently being progressed, including in Athlone and Spri…

The preparation of legislation to improve the management of flood risk on the River Shannon is a priority. The management of flood risk on the river is closely intertwined with other uses of the river such as, as I already mentioned, navigation and dam safety managed by Waterways Ireland and the ESB, neither of which fall under the remit of the Office of Public Works. The OPW has conducted an analysis of existing legislation regarding the management of the River Shannon, including a review of the powers of various …

There are MEPs from all parties and none.

Their email addresses are freely available.

Will the Deputy let me answer? If the Deputy wants to find out what MEPs are doing, as the Ceann Comhairle suggested, she is as capable as I am of sending them an email.

The question that was asked does not mention MEPs from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or any other party.

I am trying to answer the question the Deputy asked. With regard to the question the Deputy asked about the legislation, this is a complicated issue. One of the bodies, Waterways Ireland, which has responsibility for navigation, is a cross-Border body set up under the Good Friday Agreement. Its powers derive from the OPW, which previously had responsibility for the Shannon River.

In addition, there is electricity generation and there are huge implications for Parteen Weir and further flooding that could be caused at the lower end of the Shannon. It is not something we can simplistically solve. I have devoted a lot of time to it, as have my officials, and I hope to be in a position to bring a proposal to the Government on it early in the new year.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 42 and 61 together. I saw at first hand when I visited County Galway recently, following the flooding caused by Storm Debi, the devastation and impact it has had. The Government has assessed the risk to those communities from the most significant flood events. CFRAM, Ireland’s largest study of flood risk, was completed by the OPW in 2018. An output of CFRAM, the Government’s flood risk management plans, provide the evidence for a proactive approach to designing and constructing …

I thank both Deputies and I know they have both raised this with me previously. I know they both have a keen interest in it, as do the other Deputies in the city. Deputy Farrell is right, the devastation was catastrophic. It blew a wall out in front of Oranmore railway station. It made smithereens of it. Really, it is amazing there was no loss of life and were it not for the fact a shop worker was pinned between a fridge and a glass door in a shop in Clarinbridge he probably would have drowned inside the shop. Anec…

The last point is exactly the reason I asked Galway City Council, the steering group and the Office of Public Works to engage in the first instance with Deputies and public representatives to dispel misinformation, of which we heard a lot in this House earlier in a different arena. The Deputy is right about bringing the public with us. Other public infrastructure from Galway city towards Salthill will be built in the not-too-distant future. It may have to be incorporated into this. I was on my holidays before I got…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 37, 39 and 56 together. As Deputy Stanton is aware, Cork County Council is leading the design of the Midleton flood relief scheme and, in 2017, appointed engineering and environmental consultants. The process follows a number of stages from feasibility through design, planning, detailed design and construction. It is important that the work be done correctly and achieve its objectives. Extensive and detailed technical analysis is required to establish the most appropriate solution f…

The Department of Transport operates the driver and vehicle computer services from a State-owned building in Shannon town centre, that is, the Shannon vehicle registration unit, VRU. The building requires significant investment to address building fabric issues that have arisen over a number of years. This investment was under consideration when an opportunity to acquire a substantial property consisting of offices and warehousing in the Shannon area was identified. The property was acquired by the Office of Public…

I do not disagree with much of what Deputy Crowe said, but finding an available building in an area which, as the Deputy knows as well as I do, has literally gone through an explosion in the number of people who work there, thankfully, is not easy. That being said, we have carried out works in the Department of Transport building to make sure the fabric of the building is protected and the working conditions are being allowed to be properly maintained. With respect to the Shannon 153 building, as the Deputy and I a…

I do not disagree with the Deputy. I have gone through it recently and it is in need of an overhaul. The Shannon Airport Authority has acknowledged the fact it has plans for the entire arrivals hall. We will work with it to make sure any works are done in conjunction with the overall Shannon Airport Authority's master plan for the arrivals hall rather than doing piecemeal or isolated work. We would not be doing that because as the Deputy said a while ago with respect to another building, the last thing we want to d…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 34 together. At the outset, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I want to express our sympathy to the people of County Cork and the other locations, in west Waterford especially, that were flooded and had their businesses and houses impacted by Storm Babet on Thursday of last week. After the event, the Taoiseach and I visited Midleton, as Deputy O'Connor said. We wanted to meet with local communities to see at first hand the devastation from the impact from Storm…

As I said at the outset, the Government is committed to making sure that the necessary funding, not only for private infrastructure but also for public infrastructure, is made available. As he was at the meeting in Midleton fire station when the CEO of Cork County Council raised the issue of damaged public infrastructure, Deputy O'Connor will be aware that the Taoiseach's response on behalf of the Government was very clear. This was followed up by the Tánaiste when he visited at the weekend. When assessments are co…

I will deal with the last question first. Deputy O'Sullivan was with me in Glanmire when we discussed with the OPW the question of whether mitigating measures can be taken in parallel to the construction of the Glanmire flood relief scheme. Once Cork City Council has completed its assessment of which needs are interim versus long-term - because of the limitations we have on the amount of time we can work on the river - we will certainly look at that. I will refer Deputy Stanton's issue around car insurance to the M…

The Government launched a national CFRAM programme of 120 new flood relief schemes in 2018. While Midleton was part of this programme, major flooding in 2015 and again in 2016 was the catalyst to commence work on the design of the scheme. Cork County Council, which is leading the design of the scheme, appointed engineering and environmental consultants in 2017. Designing any flood relief scheme is complicated and requires data on flood sources and their associated risks. To date, some 100 schemes are at design and …

At the meeting we had on Tuesday with Cork County Council, the issue of interim measures was raised with the manager for the southern region of Cork, the director of services and the county engineer. The OPW has asked Cork County Council to assess the town and the flooded areas, including the Water-rock and Ballinacurra areas and the centre of the town, to see if there are interim measures that can be put forward while the scheme is under construction. Once Cork County Council turns that around, we will assess it v…