Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Chairman the very best in his role and I wish the Minister of State the best in his Department over the coming months. The catchment flood risk and assessment, CFRAM, report was documented in the Minister of State's opening remarks. Essentially, he has already pointed out that urban areas will be best served by the report in terms of requirements and conditions. I am just concerned about rural areas. What programme of works has been put in place for them and what budget is prescribed? There is much concern that rural areas will be left behind by the report and no works will be carried out. We have had a huge disaster in terms of the scale of flooding but no work has yet commenced.

Subhead A5 relates to flood risk management and I note that, almost halfway through the year at the end of May, less than 8% of the allocated budget has been expended. Considering there was a €7 million carry-over from the previous year, that would concern me greatly. We really need to get our act together. I am interested in why it is so far behind. The Minister of State mentioned that local authorities with minor works programmes could carry out some work for rural areas. It seems there has been a trend away from that recently in the Department, as noted in the report. Will the Minister of State comment on those points?