Mr. Tom Tiernan:

I thank the committee for inviting us to address it on this issue.

I confirm that the Newmarket-on-Fergus-Ballycar area is within the jurisdiction of Clare County Council, hence the rationale for the council having a particular interest in this issue. The Newmarket-on-Fergus drainage district is one of the drainage districts within County Clare for which Clare County Council has a responsibility in a maintenance context. This drainage district is part of the issue surrounding Ballycar but, as I said, we have a maintenance responsibility in respect of that drainage system. We have had serious concerns over the years about the fact that the extent of flooding which occurs in this area goes above and beyond what normal maintenance requirements can facilitate. Our concerns about the importance of finding a resolution to this problem have been repeatedly aired. We have a flood alleviation role as a local authority in dealing with various flood alleviation issues as they arise here and there around the county, but this is generally in the context in which residential properties, business premises and so on are impacted, as distinct from this case, in which flooding has not been a major issue from a domestic flooding point of view.

We are available at all times, and always have been, to support the development and maintenance of key infrastructure such as the railway line which facilitates strategic access between Ennis and Limerick, the western rail corridor, etc. We see ourselves as having a facilitation role and have always made ourselves available to facilitate the resolution of this issue in whatever way we can. We have liaised in recent years with both the OPW and Iarnród Éireann in a bid to facilitate an appropriate strategy to deal with this problem. The key meeting in this regard, which Clare County Council, Iarnród Éireann and the OPW attended, was held in September 2014. There was a clear understanding at that meeting that Iarnród Éireann saw itself as the lead agency in the pursuit of a resolution to this problem, it being the key stakeholder. Clare County Council's concerns until that time had related not just to the railway line, but also the fact that local roads in the area became inundated from time to time through flooding events which have evolved repeatedly over the years, with the result that access to a number of homes was cut off. Clare County Council dealt with this issue in 2015 by the reconstruction of a local road to an elevated level in order that the homes in respect of which access was affected in those extreme flood events were facilitated in all circumstances.

As I indicated earlier, Clare County Council sees itself as a facilitator in whatever way possible to move this issue forward. We remain available to facilitate in whatever way we can, whatever solution, whatever options, may be put forward in this regard.