Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In a word, planning. We have been ambitious to try to make sure we get more schemes animated through a design process. Some have gone down the road of a judicial review or an objection. For example, Blackpool is a village within the centre of Cork city. That is a large and complicated scheme which has been delayed on the basis of environmental considerations. We would have profiled that money because it had permission. We are coming out of those difficulties. Of the ones we have already identified, Morrison's Island in Cork is a big one. It now has all the permissions, thankfully. We are the funder and Cork City Council is the lead agent. That will be an enormous scheme and it is profiled to start, as is King's Island in Limerick city. Up to now, they have had outlier issues which have finally been resolved. They have all of their consents in place. That will increase considerably the money we spend in 2024, 2025, 2026 and beyond. There are also others.

The Whitechurch and Poddle flood alleviation schemes are being done by direct labour by the Office of Public Works. I should have said that direct labour gives us flexibility that appointing contractors does not give us because where changes need to be made, like in Athlone, we have a crew of personnel on site who can be flexible in adapting their needs. Obviously, we do not need to go to tender when they are our own crews. However, they are limited and small in number. They are a very valuable resource as well.