Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The event in Cork that the Deputy is referring to was in Fermoy. It was an alarm on a sump pump that unfortunately was disconnected from a power source. Cork County Council is investigating that.

However, in regard to the schemes across Munster for the last major event, which was only last October, in all of the towns for which protection has been put in place - Ennis, Cappamore, Newcastle West, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Waterford city - it worked. There was no major event and we had no loss of life, which is the most important thing. We have had serious property damage in the places that are undefended or yet to be defended, and that continues. At the moment, we have approximately €2 billion worth of potential property damage that is protected by OPW-provided and OPW-led schemes. The next element is in regard to the ongoing relationship we have with local authorities in respect of schemes that are finished around ongoing management and maintenance, inspection, audit and so on. Our policy section in the OPW is looking at that.

In regard to whether it works in the Netherlands, it absolutely does. Some 30% of its landmass is under sea level and half of the population lives under sea level, and it works. The next iteration of it is going to be more challenging because questions arise, for example, do the walls continue to go up, do the dikes continue to get bigger, do the tidal barrages continue to get bigger and do they break the water out at sea? As late as this morning, we were discussing in the Department the prospect of signing a memorandum of understanding, MoU, between ourselves, the OPW and our sister organisation in the Netherlands, the Rijkswaterstaat, around collaboration, learning, education and sharing experiences. We would hope to be able to do that in the new year.