Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In fairness, the Deputy's point is one of the frustrations I have had myself. There are competing problems in respect of funding for flood relief schemes.

From my background in construction, I can understand some of them because the issues relate to engineering and water and it is very hard to define the timescale.

I have a note that the contractor for the Ennis works is to be appointed in the first quarter of 2017. Construction will probably start in the second or third quarter of 2017. What I have been doing since I took up the position in the OPW is looking at how long it takes to plan a project, as the Deputy has, and the average time it has taken to bring a project from inception through to the construction stage, that is, to the day that the machinery goes on the ground, has been seven years. That is the way it has worked. What we are doing is looking at ways of trying to shorten that timeframe. With the work that has been done on CFRAM to date, it will knock two years off the length of the process for the projects that have been picked. We have changed some of the planning procedures to try to expedite the whole process and to shorten it.

We have also had some cases in which we ran into engineering problems, environmental or other issues which delayed some projects. My commitment is to reduce the timeframe from conception to construction. Construction is the easiest part.