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

Deputy Carthy's proposal is that we request a further breakdown of the non-compliant procurement. Is that agreed? Agreed. No. 247B is from Mr. Maurice Buckley, chairman of the Office of Public Works, OPW, dated 4 December 2020, providing information requested by the committee at our meeting with the OPW on 11 November. We will note and publish this and a number of Deputies wish to speak to it, including me and Deputies Murphy and Carthy.

The first element I will mention is the Mountmellick flood relief scheme. The chairman sets things out as they are and he was very frank the day he was here about the number of hoops that the project must jump through. There are five separate environmental requirements, reports, assessments and screenings that it must go through. We are looking at a four-year timeline before shovels could be stuck in the ground. If the committee agrees, I suggest we write back to chairman to ask if all these are necessary. I am sure he will tell us they are. I am curious how we get to the point where we need five separate environmental studies and screenings before we can go out to do a bit of work. I am not advocating a shortcut through environmental standards or anything like it but it is putting a major cost on the project. Much of the budget for these projects is being eaten up. I suggest to the committee that we write back with questions on this specific item and the five environmental procedures that must be completed for the Mountmellick scheme. Is that agreed? Agreed. I am okay with the rest of it as the information has been supplied on leases.