Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Public Accounts Committee

2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 6 - Expenditure under a Maintenance Contract
2019 Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works

4:30 pm

Photo of Brian StanleyBrian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To stick to the floodworks scheme, I have some questions and the witnesses might give concise answers. On the overall schemes, there is much frustration and disappointment about the length of time it takes to carry out surveys, studies, examination of the sites and the work on the contracts and the tenders. I am talking about the period from when the work starts to seeing the actual physical work commence. The time from when the preparatory work, to use that term, begins, which includes all of that, to when the physical works commence is a huge frustration for people. We get circulars saying that such and such a scheme is starting. Some of this has been articulated by Deputy Colm Burke but it is about the time that elapses between that preparatory work and actually starting the works and spending money. I understand that environmental impact assessments, EIAs, have to be done and that there are many requirements on the OPW but the chairman might deal with that.

I want to ask about some specific schemes. With regard to the Mountmellick scheme, Mountmellick suffered very badly three years ago as a result of very severe flooding. Many houses and businesses were impacted. An excellent engineer in Laois County Council, Paul McLoughlin, is heading up that project but the length of time it takes to get from the starting blocks to the physical works being done seems to be three, three and a half or even four years. When can we hope to see shovels in the ground in Mountmellick and those flood defences being put in place?

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.