Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the Blackpool flood relief scheme. The Minister of State knew I would raise this. His office has done everything possible on it over the past six months. We began in 2013 and went on to a judicial review in 2021. The Minister of State’s Department did not instigate it, and it is an individual's right to take a judicial review. It is now back with the Department of public expenditure, but I got a reply yesterday that gave me no indication as to when it would go back out for further public consultation. I am concerned that this is now dragging on.

To give my own history in respect of Blackpool, I was chairperson of the community association there in 1994 and 1995 when I pushed very hard for the redevelopment of Blackpool. Here I am 30 years later and there has been some development, but much of that is restricted because of the "threat" of flood relief. For instance, property owners cannot get flood insurance and have difficulty in offloading properties as a result. Many lending institutions will not lend money where there is a risk of flooding. What can we do to get it to the next stage? There are three or four different stages after that before the works even start. What is the update on that issue?