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

A lot of the projects we do are public. The only comparison I would draw is that the difficulties we have encountered, which are well documented, are faced across the European Union. The constraints presented by environmental legislation and recourse to the Aarhus Convention are not unique to Ireland but are felt across the European Union. Most European Union states talking about climate adaptation at the moment are talking about the very same issues.

With regard to the individual planning authorities, for a number of years, where individual local authorities have deemed additional resources necessary to advance particular schemes, the Office of Public Works has paid for those resources. If a scheme led by a local authority is being worked on, the engineering capacity of that authority can be supplemented through funding from the Office of Public Works. Persons provided in this way work exclusively on the delivery of those schemes, for which the local authorities are ultimately the lead agent. We have a long history of working with the local authorities. I should point out that, notwithstanding the issues that are there, we have completed a substantial number of schemes in recent years. This year alone, we commenced work in the Whitechurch area in Dublin and in Glashaboy in Glanmire, Cork. Both of these projects have been awaited for many years and we expect to see a number of others commenced by early 2024.