Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Office of Public Works, OPW, is the lead body for the co-ordination and implementation of Government policy on the management of flood risk. The report for consideration by the committee relates to an examination by my office of the way in which the OPW plans for and manages the risks associated with river and coastal flooding. Flooding is a long-term and complex problem that presents a very serious challenge in Ireland and many other states, including many of our European neighbours. By now, most people accept that flooding is a problem that will become worse in the future, both in its intensity and likelihood. Sadly, at the time my report was being completed, Storm Desmond was causing widespread flooding, leading to damage and distress in many parts of the country. As public resources are scarce, it is essential that expenditure on flood prevention measures and the response to flooding be well planned and targeted at the areas where it will deliver the maximum social and economic benefit.

In my examination I considered the governance and project management arrangements in place for strategic planning for flood risk management. I also assessed OPW's management of, and progress to date on, the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme and a set of pilot river basin flood management plans. In 2004 an interdepartmental policy review group recommendedthat future flood risk management focus on mapping and strategic planning at river basin level. That model of planning was being applied elsewhere in Europe. The 2007 EU floods directive established a common, whole of river-basin approach to the assessment and management of flood risks across the European Union. The directive set a series of deadlines for all EU member states, requiring them to identify areas at serious risk of flooding; produce flood hazard maps and flood risk maps for these areas; and produce flood risk management plans for whole river basins. The OPW was able to incorporate the work already under way as part of the 2004 review into its work programme to meet the directive's requirements.

Planning for flood management for whole river basins started in 2005 on a pilot basis. The aim was to test the approach in advance of the roll-out of a national programme. The OPW originally envisaged that nine projects would be undertaken at the pilot stage to test approaches in different types of river basin and using different models for delivery. In the event, only four pilot projects proceeded for the River Suir, the River Lee and the River Dodder and in the Fingal and east Meath area. In March 2006 the OPW planned that the pilot testing would be completed in 2007. All four pilot projects reviewed ran significantly over their original schedules, with delays of at least six years in each case. The Suir pilot project was not completed on a stand-alone basis and the OPW has incorporated it into the planning for the south-eastern CFRAM study.

Costs also increased compared with what had been originally planned for the pilot schemes. Indicative cost estimates for the four pilot projects totalled approximately €3.5 million. Expenditure to the end of 2014 on the projects was €8.9 million. In the case of the two pilot projects managed by local authorities, no service-level agreement was put in place between the OPW and the relevant local authorities prior to commencing the projects. The lack of such agreements can potentially lead to difficulties in resolving project issues that may arise and can also increase the exposure of public bodies to costs in excess of those agreed at the outset.

The national CFRAM programme got under way in 2011, focused on six regions, each comprising a number of river basins. The report includes a map, on page 21, indicating the regions.

One of the CFRAM programme's main objectives was to produce the required maps and flood risk management plans within the timeframe set out in the EU floods directive. There was some evidence of learning from the pilot schemes being transferred to the CFRAM programme, but this did not happen in a formalised manner. The first CFRAM programme delivery target required the preparation and submission to the European Commission of preliminary flood risk assessments by March 2012. The OPW met that target, identifying 300 areas as being at high risk. The second delivery target required the preparation of flood risk and flood hazard maps for each of the identified areas by December 2013 and their submission to the European Commission by March 2014. The OPW had submitted maps for only 50 of the 300 identified areas by the due date and had not submitted additional maps by December 2015. We have included a set of maps for the area around Gort, County Galway, as an appendix to the report in order that readers can get a sense of what is involved.

At the time my report was being finalised, OPW did not expect to meet the directive's delivery target of March 2016 for submission to the European Commission of final flood risk management plans. The OPW informed me last November that it aimed to complete the plans for all river basins by the end of 2016.

The Accounting Officer will be able to update the committee on progress in that regard.

The OPW estimated in 2009 that the cost of implementing the CFRAM programme would be €30 million excluding VAT. My report notes that the OPW expects the final cost of producing all the plans to be approximately €27.4 million. The Accounting Officer will be able to update the committee on that.

It is critical to the success of large scale programmes, such as CFRAM, that in addition to project management and oversight arrangements, progress is also actively managed at the programme level. A high-level interdepartmental group to oversee national co-ordination of flood risk management and flooding response met between March 2006 and September 2009 but did not meet again for a period of almost six years up to July 2015. A steering group established to oversee the CFRAM programme similarly met between May 2009 and November 2010 but did not meet again during a four-year period up to November 2014. In the case of the pilot projects, there was a lack of clarity about the oversight arrangements. While OPW established structures to monitor project management, these were evidently not adequate, particularly in light of the delays and cost escalation that occurred.

Capital expenditure on flood risk management for the period 2005 to 2014 was €329 million. This comprised major works at a cost of €242 million, strategic studies - including the pilot projects and CFRAM - at a cost €52 million and minor works that cost €35 million. In September 2015, the Government announced details of a €430 million six-year programme of capital investment on flood defence measures as part of the its overall capital investment plan for the period 2016 to 2021.

It is a concern that 12 years on from the report of the flood policy review group and eight years after the EU floods directive, substantial capital expenditure commitments continued to be made without the full benefit of the comprehensive analysis and strategic plans that will emerge from the CFRAM programme.