Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The council is fully aware of that, and has assessed this. In absence of progressing the CFRAM scheme, the council will obviously continue to apply for short-term works, and all the rest. However, let us not kid ourselves. These properties will still be at risk of flooding.

That is Clareden Drive. That is what has happened in Donegal town in five years out of the last six. It is happening every single year. It could happen this year. It could happen next month. We know, even if approval was given to progress this scheme, that it will take years for the scheme to actually come about. Issues continue every month that we delay. I raised with the Minister of State last year and nothing has happened. Nothing has happened to progress the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, scheme.

Local councillors got a presentation from Donegal County Council about the flooding. I will read from it. It shows all the money that has been made available for culvert replacement and emergency flood relief works, which the Minister of State is suggesting more of. It states that any funding that is made available to try to help to alleviate flooding in Donegal town is welcome but, and this section is in red, the works noted above will only help with flooding up to a point. It states it is therefore essential that the scheme that has been identified in the CFRAM risk management plan for Donegal town is advanced as soon as possible. It talks about what the future holds for Donegal town with regard to global warming, rising sea levels, rising temperatures and storm events being more frequent and more intense. It states the CFRAM scheme is essential for Donegal town. That is the long and short of it. We all know that, as does everybody who is looking at Donegal town. I genuinely believe the Minister of State knows that. When will a decision be made to allow this scheme to progress?