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

Mr. Maurice Buckley:

We provided the information on that Glanmire Garda station some time ago. I will ask Mr. McMahon to comment on that in a moment.

I will come to the Deputy's first question which was on the Cork city flood relief scheme and Morrison's Island. He is perfectly correct that Morrison's Island is the first element of a large scheme. It is being progressed by Cork City Council with the OPW. It has received planning and has been approved by An Bord Pleanála. To our disappointment, a judicial review has been requested by the Save Cork City group. We are, therefore, at the mercy of the judicial system as to whether or when that will be heard and how long it will take. We have just gone through a similar process in County Kildare, which delayed the scheme by two full years.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who has responsibility for the OPW and flood relief, has asked Save Cork City to consider withdrawing that judicial review in the interests of the wider community. Business people in Cork have echoed that, as has Cork County Council. As an official, my interest is to proceed with the work. I met the Save Cork City group along with the then Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran.

I believe it is time to go ahead. We have addressed Save Cork City openly and responsibly and taken all its concerns seriously and answered them all one by one. They are passionate people. I respect all those people who hold passionate views on things but really, it is time to proceed with that. We will engage wholeheartedly with that and any other group when we come to the next phase. That is only phase 1. It is a huge project all the way from Ballincollig down to the sea in Cork. It will cost €140 million in total. It is enormous. It is the biggest flood relief project in the State and to some extent, the most important in terms of the risk of property and to people. We all saw what happened in 2009. It was a miracle lives were not lost.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.