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

The other scheme I want to mention is the Mountrath scheme. A scheme was put in for Mountrath and it was not backed by the OPW on the basis of value for money. I am very familiar with the area. I crossed it when I was going to school. A weir was constructed there. There were two weirs. One of them was taken out. The remaining one is causing problems. It is increasing the water levels in the river by about 1 m to 1.2 m. I find it hard to understand the value for money argument because many of the people living in Patrick Street and in Dunne's Terrace, in Mountrath, had to abandon their houses so they would say it does represent value for money. There is a pipe underneath a bridge that has to be removed and something has to be done with the weir. I am aware that minor works have been approved for the Shannon Street area that the council are opening but I am asking that the OPW would go back and look at that issue again. I do not see it being a huge cost issue in terms of resolving the issues on the Whitehorse river, in Mountrath. In terms of value for money, people need peace of mind. There has been very bad flooding in the area since 1967 and it is being caused by a few minor pieces of work that need to be carried out. Can Mr. Buckley give me a brief answer on that now?