Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I accept that. To be fair, the previous Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, the former Deputy Brian Hayes, came to a large meeting in the area and the OPW was not found wanting in terms of the manner and the speed at which it came up with the money.

The other side of the problem is that under the law, people cannot erect block walls even on a temporary basis while these surveys are taking place. I accept fully the knock-on effect of putting in inappropriate flood defences. I am aware that work done in Rush had a knock-on effect in Donabate and Portrane causing other issues to arise.

As Ms McGrath said, the surveys take time and this offers no real comfort to homeowners. I know some have taken the law into their own hands and put in place various measures that are not in compliance with environmental legislation and will probably not stand up to the test of time.

Has the OPW received an increase in funding to deal with these issues? Has it the potential to make greater investment in programmes and studies on coastal protection? I am very aware that coastal erosion occurs in the main on the west coast, but Donabate and Portrane are low lying and are protected in the main by a ring of dunes, most of which have been breached in the past three or four years during particular storms.