Mr. Michael Malone:

It is down to value and capacity within the OPW. The OPW has to make a judgment on whether it can do the work itself and if it can, it certainly speeds things up.

Members raised the issue of the impact on future planning. We will have to await the completion of the two catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, studies being conducted in Kildare because they will be the recognised model and standard for addressing the issue of flooding and the identification of potentially risky locations. We will have to take those studies on board in the context of all future development plans. The studies will enable us to identify the affected areas and to support whatever works are necessary in our development plans.

Mr. Dunney will deal with the issue of silting at Straffan. I accept Deputy Stagg's point that if works cause silting, that can have a knock-on effect for drainage. If the silting levels are increased, effective drainage off the land is made more difficult, causing problems further upstream. Contour mapping is essentially the same issue as geocoding, to which we have already referred and hopefully, the CFRAMs will bring some clarity in that regard.