Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Chairman on his appointment and wish him well in his role. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, to his first engagement with the select committee and wish him well in his role.

What are the figures for the outturn for last year? Did the OPW spend all of its budget last year? Can the Minister of State explain why the budget for programme A, flood risk management, for 2016 is down by 16% in comparison with the 2015 allocation? The Minister of State spoke about the very large allocation by Government of €430 million to flood risk management for the period 2016 to 2021 but that does not seem to correlate with the actual figure for 2016.

In regard to ensuring that insurance cover is provided for areas where flood relief schemes have been completed, the previous Government had a series of meetings with the insurance industry in January and there were promises of further engagement and action if necessary. Where schemes have been completed by the OPW to the required standard under the European directive, is it the Minister of State's view that the insurance industry should ensure that cover is reinstated? There seems to be a dispute between the insurance industry and the OPW about the use of demountable defences. The industry does not seem to recognise these as being of equal value and as being as effective as permanent defences. Will the Minister of State comment on that and say how open-minded he is about the introduction of legislation, if necessary, to deal with the issue?

Can the Minister of State give us an update on the Cork city flood relief scheme? It is almost seven years since Cork city was devastated by flooding in November 2009. The scheme has been delayed several times and we still await definitive confirmation of when the scheme will happen and I would appreciate an update on that.