Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A great deal of money is being spent on consultants under this flooding issue in coastal communities. It is hugely important to have proper and meaningful engagement with the local communities. Sometimes, the least expensive things, like gabion baskets, can help. It was obvious where these worked in certain places instead of building huge walls at huge expense. Local knowledge is vital in all of this right along the Atlantic coast. I call on the OPW to be mindful of that.

I want to go back to the document. Let us turn to page 4 of the committee brief on Vote 13, Office of Public Works mid-year review 2016 under heading A5. It appears the provisional requirement for 2017 is below 2016, notwithstanding a €7 million carryover. With so many projects in the planning stage, can the Minister of State explain the rationale for this? Do the Minister of State and the OPW believe there is less of a requirement for capital investment in flood risk management in 2017 than there was in 2016? Can the Minister of State explain that?