Mr. Michael Horan:

The OPW is the lead agency and it was given that role in 2004. As the Deputy rightly noted, wildlife interests and various other interest groups are also involved in flood risk management. This can lead to confusion and inaction. We advocate that the OPW, as lead agency, should adopt a co-ordinated action plan with priorities for all agencies. The OPW should be dictating to the other parties involved in the process. At present, everybody appears to have an equal say in what happens and, therefore, it takes a long time for decisions to be made on flood remediation measures. During that delay, residents have to live with the stress of possible flooding and insurers have to deal with a high risk of flood events in undefended areas.

In regard to which body is most suitable, the flood policy review group sat for two years from 2002 to analyse the issue and it decided that the OPW should be the lead agency. We are happy with the OPW acting as lead agency provided it is given the tools to do the job. It currently has manpower deficiencies and in most years it underspends its budget. It also has to deal with the various other agencies involved in flood risk management.