Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for attending; they are very welcome. I compliment them on the Sallins project and the linkage between all agencies. A model such as that could be replicated elsewhere and should involve, for example, Waterways Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the relevant county council, the OPW and all the necessary bodies involved. A model of that type which involves all the agencies might come about through the County and City Managers Association. It should be promoted.

I have some queries, some of which came to me from people trying to get insurance in places where there has not been any history of flooding. Deputy Murphy raised the same issue. Have there been any discussions at county manager level with insurance companies on funding? Both they and the communities involved would benefit if non-flooding areas were considered. There could be a levy and insurance companies could be involved in the payment of some such schemes because there is only a finite sum of money coming from Government in this regard.

Many of the contracts with the OPW involve fairly large sums of money. Do these have to go through e-tenders? How are they decided, given that the OPW subcontracts out much of the work? Are preferred contractors used?

My last query concerns planning and those schemes that have been successful. Reference was made to Leixlip, Johnstown and Sallins. There is a related impact on future planning, zonings and developments. Is that taken into consideration when a cost-benefit analysis is being done?