Mr. Vincent Campbell:

Thank you, Chairman. I had just commenced talking about the Shannon flood risk State agency co-ordination working group. Given its relevance to and impact on so many rural communities in Ireland, I will say a few words on flooding on the River Shannon.

Last winter the Shannon flood risk State agency co-ordination working group was established on foot of a Government decision to enhance ongoing co-operation across all of the State agencies involved with the River Shannon, including ESB, Waterways Ireland, Bord na Móna, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, OPW and the relevant local authorities the whole stretch of the Shannon.

The work programme of the group is published on the OPW website and highlights the current proactive and co-ordinated approach by all State agencies to flood risk management on the Shannon catchment. The working group: is building on the existing work and commitment of all the State agencies involved in flood risk; is focused on ensuring the best possible level of co-ordination between all statutory bodies involved in flood management on the Shannon; and is solutions-focused, designed to deliver the highest level of efficiencies to add value to the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme.

The group held three open days on its work programme to discuss the role and work of the group with the public, and met the Irish Farmers' Association to discuss and explore the approach being adopted to address its issues of concern. The group met most recently on Tuesday, 18 October, and discussed the benefits of possible measures to managing flood risk for winter 2016-2017 on the Shannon. Arising from that meeting, a decision was taken by the group to trial the lowering of the lake levels in Lough Allen to help mitigate potential flood risk for this winter. From the analysis completed, this may have a small positive impact on the extent of certain flood events that might occur during the winter. This action can only be done in specified conditions to avoid causing or exacerbating flooding downstream and this trial will need to be carefully monitored, which it will be. While the impact of this initiative may be quite small, this demonstrates the continued commitment of the agencies to work in a co-ordinated way to explore all measures that may benefit the communities along the River Shannon.

The group has also agreed to evaluate the benefits from any short and medium-term programme of localised dredging and any future piloting to remove some pinch points along the Shannon, particularly above Meelick Weir, that may possibly impact on the Callows. The group will discuss both this evaluation and progression with the lake levels trial at its next meeting at the end of November.

There is a whole-of-Government approach to flooding also taking place. The Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works and flood relief chairs an interdepartmental flood policy co-ordination group and a progress report of the group will be brought to Government shortly. The group is developing a range of policy initiatives to underpin the overall investment by OPW in managing national flood risk. It is also considering a number of other prevention and mitigation measures for providing flood relief which may include schemes for individual property protection and voluntary home and farmyard relocation. The group has also looked at the current arrangements in the memorandum of understanding with the insurance industry on the provision of flood insurance and how these might be strengthened in the future.

As the designated lead agency for the co-ordination of overall policy on flooding, the OPW co-operation with local authorities and other State agencies is vital in developing new and innovative responses to the threat of flooding. Examples of these would include the minor works scheme, the individual property protection pilot programmes and, indeed, the development of the national flood forecasting and warning service. Similarly, OPW is co-operating with the Geological Survey of Ireland in order to tackle the challenges posed by groundwater flooding, in particular, turloughs.

One important aspect of flood risk management in the future, in addition to the OPW flood defence solutions, will be to raise the awareness of flood risk and encourage people, businesses and communities to take action to protect themselves and their properties. The Office of Emergency Planning is responsible for managing the Be Winter-Ready Government information campaign and is actively planning the launch of this year's campaign on 9 November 2016. In conjunction with the OPW, a specific Be Winter-Ready public information leaflet on flooding has been prepared, which brings together information already available from various sources, including OPW's flood preparation website, which is contained at www.flooding.ie, that provides practical advice for homes, businesses and farms in the event of flooding occurring.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it on this important matter and to reiterate that the OPW will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the fullest possible range of measures to deal effectively with flooding will receive the highest priority and attention now and in the future. I and my colleagues are happy to take any questions the committee may have.