Mr. Colin Hedderly:

It was agreed by the four agencies concerned, Iarnród Éireann, Clare County Council, the Office of Public Works, OPW, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to deliver a joint opening statement to the committee. Collectively, we welcome the opportunity to update the committee on developments since November 2018 when we previously attended. As noted in November, Iarnród Éireann has engaged RPS Consulting Engineers to develop a feasible engineering solution to the flooding issue at Ballycar with an updated report due in spring 2019. A draft report has been prepared by RPS and was issued to Iarnród Éireann, Clare County Council and the OPW in early April. The report identified a preferred option for the alleviation of flooding on the Limerick to Galway railway line at Ballycar consisting of attenuation of some flows upstream of the railway line in Finn and Rosroe loughs, removal of the underground restriction between the swallow hole and spring downstream of Ballycar Lough, construction of a diversion pipeline and channel to divert excess flows around Newmarket-on-Fergus and Lough Gash, upgrading of existing stream channels and culverts, and construction of a flood protection embankment along the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, infrastructure in Urlanmore. Following an initial review of the report, it was agreed that the option of diverting some flows to the Owengarney, or Ratty, river should be further investigated and the recommendations in the report updated as necessary. This requires the completion of additional topographical surveys and hydraulic modelling, which is being undertaken by RPS. Following the finalisation of this report, the most appropriate technically and environmentally feasible option to address the Ballycar flooding issue will be considered by the bodies and the appropriate route for the progression of the works, including funding, will be investigated.

This represents the joint position of the four bodies. We are committed to the concept of sustainability and to the delivery of optimum service of key strategic infrastructure and will continue to work together to resolve the problem on the rail line at Ballycar. We welcome any questions the committee may have.