Mr. Jim Casey:

The Deputy is quite right. When flood events occur, they can have devastating impacts not just on people's homes, businesses and properties, but also on environmentally sensitive receptors. Flood events are very destructive. Under our catchment flood risk management, CFRAM, programme, we have sought to identify the flood risk across the country. We concluded the CFRAM programme in 2018 with the publication of 29 flood risk management plans covering the State. We examined fluvial river flooding and coastal flooding. We have also done preliminary flood risk assessment nationally for other types of flooding such as groundwater flooding and pluvial flooding. We have identified up to 150 flood relief schemes that need to be implemented to deal with the risk referred to by the Deputy. We have a very substantial programme and that is the one that is being funded under the national development plan at a cost of €1.3 billion. We are about our business in the roll-out of two thirds of those 150 schemes, which we call our tranche one schemes. The devastation referred to by the Deputy may be happening in one of those areas that is earmarked for the implementation of a scheme to mitigate that damage. We are looking to roll that out as quickly as possible.

He mentioned barriers and weirs and how they can create a backing up of sediment or trigger flood events. Our focus for this committee meeting is how we are looking to remove barriers to enhance fish migration but sometimes we may have to remove barriers to improve conveyancing channels and keep the water in channel as opposed to getting out on to the flood plain.

We have a very substantial programme of work looking at barrier removal and things that might be exacerbating flood risk. This is being looked at in conjunction with the CFRAM programme and also the next cycle of our national preliminary flood risk assessment. This is being done six years later to see whether we missed something that has become a risk in more recent years because of local conditions. We may pick up these issues in the next cycle of our national preliminary flood risk assessment. This cycle is under way.