Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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It is great to have the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, here to discuss the issue of the flooding in Ring. Last Friday evening, we had the wonderful opportunity to welcome him to Ring, which really was a great honour for me. He met up with local councillor, John O'Sullivan, and members of the tidy towns committee in the area, particularly Frances Coakley. He also met local election candidate, John Michael Foley, and other members of the community to discuss this matter.

Ring is a beautiful part of the world. It is a few miles outside of Clonakilty. On that night, it was described as the Italian Riviera of west Cork. It is a gorgeous part of the world. My grandfather hails from it. When the main drainage and flood defence works were carried out around Clon and Clonakilty Bay, the village of Ring was not included. That has been a very significant issue ever since. Ring is on the Wild Atlantic Way. It is a significant national tourism location. People are directed through Ring because it is on the Wild Atlantic Way. As a result, there is a significant volume of traffic going through the area.

We have very great issues when it comes to flooding. Ring was flooded three times in the past month because of high tides and the wind blowing from particular directions. It is happening every month, particularly in the wintertime. We need to find a solution. An appropriate flood relief scheme needs to be put in place to make sure that Ring is suitable for the residents who live there, for the businesses that do fantastic business and provide wonderful service there and for the people who use the amenity and drive along that way, which is an important national route. The Wild Atlantic Way is a real success story for Ireland. There is an issue with the walls that needs to be looked at. Walls need to be repointed. We also need to look at sealing the walls and, in some locations, we need to raise the level of the road. We also need to look at non-return valves.

Cork County Council made an application to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on foot of a meeting I had in my office in Bandon with the current Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy O'Donovan, who was the Minister of State in charge of the project at that time. It is a significant small-scale project that would be of great benefit to the entire community. I appeal to the Minister of State for an update as to how this project can be moved forward. The application has been with his office for the last few months. It is a significant application put together by the department in Cork County Council. What we need to hear this morning is where the movement is with this really significant project. We need to make sure that Ring, its residents and its infrastructure are protected. It is heartbreaking to have had one of the public houses in the village flooded three times last month. You would not see it anywhere else in Ireland but, unfortunately, that is the situation in Ring at the moment.

The residents of Ring have been very patient. They have seen the great works happening in Clonakilty over the past decade and have been waiting for a flood relief scheme to come to their part of the world. We have had a significant number of meetings over the past five or six years. We now need to see the approvals required from the Department in order that we can move forward. It is to be hoped that will mean a flood defence scheme can be put in place to protect Ring and its residents so that they can move forward. We are very conscious that the year is moving on. We need to have a scheme put in place by this winter to protect Ring because seasonal weather will change towards the end of the year and Ring will be flooded again. I deeply believe we need to move forward this project urgently. If we do, we can protect the infrastructure, the houses and the residents of Ring. We can protect that wonderful amenity, the Wild Atlantic Way. At the moment, when the village is flooded, some people have to divert onto the N71 and go around. When we put so much work and energy into promoting the Wild Atlantic Way, it makes no logical sense to allow it to be diverted because of a flooding issue.

The Minister of State was in the village last Friday night and met the residents and public representatives. He understands the frustrations in the area. Will he give me an update on where this project is at the moment and how it can be progressed?

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Lombard for raising this important matter today. At his invitation and that of Councillor John O'Sullivan and the local election candidate, John Michael Foley, I indeed visited Ring. I met with the residents. On the night in question, the sun was shining and it was, as Councillor O'Sullivan described it, the equivalent of the Italian Riviera. However, there is a very serious flooding issue there. The walls are very old and porous. I committed to following up on the issue with my Department. I have done so and have an update for the Senator today. I understand how important it is to the people of the locality. My Department and the OPW are giving the matter serious consideration. I will just update the Senator.To give background, the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme was introduced by the OPW on an administrative, non-statutory basis in 2009. The purpose of the scheme is to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised fluvial flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas. The scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short timeframe. The works to be funded are carried out under local authority powers and ongoing maintenance of the completed works is the responsibility of the council, which in this case is Cork County Council.

This is a demand-led scheme and applications are considered for projects that are estimated to cost no more than €750,000 in each instance. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for approved projects. Applications are assessed by the OPW having regard to the specific economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost-benefit ratio and having regard to the availability of funding for flood risk management. The original maximum amount was €500,000. This was increased to €750,000 following a review of the scheme in June 2017. A further review of the scheme was undertaken recently and is expected to be completed imminently.

Works that are normally the responsibility of the local authorities are generally not considered for OPW funding. The local authorities must be satisfied that the works will not have a significant impact on flood risk elsewhere and must comply with all environmental regulatory requirements and constraints. The commencement and progression of any works for which funding is approved is a matter for each local authority concerned.

The OPW has approved €64 million across some 900 unique local flood relief projects. Completed projects delivered through the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme protect some 7,900 properties. Since 2009, the OPW has approved funding under this scheme of approximately €5.7 million to County Cork for some 38 projects. In September 2023, Cork County Council submitted an application for funding under this scheme for a works project to address tidal flooding at the local road L4015-4. That is the Ring road, which we physically saw last Friday evening. It is prone to flooding in excess of depths of 30 cm. Two adjacent private properties have also experienced coastal flooding. In the past, one residential property and one commercial property have flooded at this location. Cork County Council proposes to mitigate coastal flood risk at this location through repairs of the sea wall and installation of non-return valves, as Senator Lombard mentioned.

Further to an initial assessment completed by the OPW of the application, further information from Cork County Council is required to complete the assessment. A request for this information was issued this week to Cork County Council. Funding for these works is available if the proposed works meet the criteria under this scheme. Once received, this further information from Cork County Council that the OPW will receive will be assessed promptly by the OPW having regard to the specific economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost-benefit ratio. We have received the application in September. We carried out an initial assessment with the OPW. We have written to Cork County Council requesting further information to complete the assessment and we await that from Cork County Council. When that information comes back, certainly within my own Department we will be looking to complete the assessment as expeditiously as possible because I know the concern of people locally and more particularly from Senator Lombard as he is from the area.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response regarding this real, significant work scheme. The 38 projects in County Cork are significant ones. The 39th project will be the most significant one when we get the go-ahead in the next few weeks for this project. I will liaise directly with Cork County Council to make sure it has received this further information from the Minister of State and to put a timeline on when we can actually get the information back to him. I will correspond directly with the Minister of State's office when that information has gone back and hopefully we can work together to get this application through as soon as we possibly can because time is really important here for this community. We are very much aware that seasonal factors will play a huge impact for this village in the next few months. The summer is ahead of us now and hopefully we will not have the flooding issues that we have in the winter. When it comes to winter time in particular, we know Ring will flood. We know these properties, and one of the public houses, will flood and therefore, we need to make sure that this application can be put through in a timely manner so that works can begin on the ground. I wish to thank the Minister of State for visiting. His visiting of this part of the world is very much welcomed. He has done a lot of great work, not alone in that area but also in Ballinspittle and Timoleague. I thank the Minister of State for his response.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Once again, I thank Senator Lombard for his comments and insights on this minor works relief application for Ring village submitted by Cork County Council to us in the Office of Public Works. I know the work to date that Senator Lombard has done on this in terms of campaigning for it with the local residents and obviously with his colleagues locally, Councillor John O'Sullivan and Mr. John Michael Foley, who is the local candidate in that area. As I said, I assure the Senator that as soon as the necessary information is received from Cork County Council - that is, the follow-up information to enable a complete assessment by the OPW for this particular application for a minor works scheme and further relief works for Ring in west Cork - the assessment will be done as soon as possible by officials in the OPW.