Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a few questions I would like to put the witnesses. With regard to the fire service, can they provide any details regarding the budget in 2008, the budget for last year and the difference between the two? What are the average and maximum distances from fire stations in different areas of the State? One of the major problems with regard to fire and ambulance services is that in many counties they do not really work together and are essentially competing against each other. In Dublin they are a single service but in Meath the two services function separately and there is often a reluctance on the part of the ambulance service to call out the fire service in case there is a charge involved. This can cause difficulties, especially at roadside accidents. The also seems to have been a change in how the fire services respond to accidents. In Meath, Navan has a two-pump station whereas a rural fire station in the county would only have a single pump. Typically, they would take the nearest single-pump fire tender to the scene of an accident and then they would take one from Navan, which means that there would still be cover for the town and they would not be exhausting the cover in the rural area. There seems to have been a change - or that we are at least on the way to a change - where the authorities are now accessing the fire tenders which are closest. That could be the two tenders dispatched from the Navan station or the single-pump tenders from Nobber and Kells. This gives me strong feeling that the north Meath rural area could, if there is another fire at the same time, be left exposed. Perhaps the witnesses will talk the committee through what research was carried out into this matter and outline the feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses that have been done. There also seems to be a form of demarcation in respect of those types of dispatches. For example, tenders are more likely to be dispatched from north Dublin into the Ashbourne area of County Meath. This is a concern because one could foresee the services located in more rural areas being run down over time as those areas become serviced by larger fire stations in the cities. What kind of operational consultation happened in the development of those plans with fire-fighters throughout the State?

I will now turn to flooding matters and the OPW. There is no doubt that this is one of the biggest issues that grips the country on an annual basis. Obviously, we have had a very long dry spell, which is great, but most people would be of the view that as we head into January, we are going to experience flooding similar to that which occurred last year. We are getting reports that there are parts of the country, particularly along the Shannon basin, that are still experiencing really high flood waters that typically would only be seen during high water mark in the middle of winter. Drainage has not occurred in some areas as would be the case normally. There were massive floods in Limerick in 2014 and there is a feeling that, to date - and in view of the funding the OPW has at its disposal - there has been more research and planning carried out than actual delivery of works in the areas to which I refer. For example, the works that were supposed to have been carried out in Limerick in 2014 have still not been carried out. That is also the case in other parts of the State. The witnesses gave a figure of €480 million over 21 years. That works out at €22 million per year on flooding works, which is ,low ,when one considers how the country was gripped by flooding in recent years. I know there is to be an acceleration of investment in the next couple of years in that regard.

I note that in this year's budget there was a cut in funding to Met Éireann. Obviously, the OPW does not have a direct responsibility for that but I imagine that the flood risk group - which it brings together and which it chairs - is dependent upon the skills and ability of Met Éireann. Last year especially, there was a feeling that anybody with even a limited knowledge of meteorology would look at long-term forecasting. Some of these weather events were seen ten days in advance and yet actions did not seem to be really taken until the four or five day forecast came into play. Perhaps the witnesses could comment on that matter.

It is a concern that the number of flood works that are actually being delivered, as opposed to those that need to be carried out, is still an extremely small percentage.

Could Mr. Campbell tell us what percentage of the projects that are needed are being actioned and delivered? He said that "ten major flood defence schemes are currently under construction". Could he give us details of some of those schemes so we can get an understanding of the size of them by comparison with those that are outstanding?