Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am raising this matter not for the first time. I have raised the issue of flooding in Kiltiernan-Ballinderreen area in south Galway previously. The Jennings O'Donovan & Partners report was published in November 2010 and set out clearly a review of the south Galway flood study report. Progress has been disappointing. We had flooding there in 1995, which I remember in particular. We saw serious flooding there in 2009 when there was no access to houses or farms. One of the councillors in the area, Councillor Bridie Willers, said at a public meeting recently that she and her family had to leave her house for three months. Despite the fact that good work has been done by the Office of Public Works and Galway County Council, they have not yet tried to tackle the foremost issue facing the people, that is, the issue of trying to get the water out to the sea or to drain to the sea from Kiltiernan to Brandy Harbour.

I received a letter during the week from Councillor Michael Fahy. He was informed by the acting director of services in Galway County Council, Liam Gavin, of the position on 20 January. The letter stated:

I refer to the above Kiltiernan Ballinderreen drainage scheme and your letter concerning progress on this scheme. Galway County Council have had discussions with the OPW concerning this scheme. Galway County Council are currently revising the scheme with an intention of bringing the cost benefit ratio to a level acceptable to the Office of Public Works. The review will be completed in the coming weeks and will be submitted to the OPW for approval and funding.

If there is one term that really annoys people in south Galway more than anything else it is "cost-benefit analysis", because they have been hearing it for years. The other term they have been listening to is "consultants", and we have all heard about consultants in recent times.

If the Minister could give the go-ahead for the project, it would be welcome news. I saw the following headline in The Connacht Tribune last week: "Week of the storms from hell". Naturally, it was referring to the damage done to our coast, which the Minister of State has seen for himself. However, in the case of the people of south Galway it is a good deal more than that. They suffered in 1995, 2009 and again in recent weeks. There is a reference in the newspaper to ten roads and up to ten houses threatened by the heavy rain that has fallen in recent times with the bad weather. One particular farmer, Mattie Hallinan, from Ballinderreen, is a member of the Galway flood project team. He described the situation as serious. He said ten roads were blocked and ten houses were under pressure. He further stated that now is the time to widen or clear the Ballinderreen-Kiltiernan water channel and bring it out to the sea to provide instant relief from flooding in the area. He said the water needs to get to the sea and that the work must start from the sea back.

I realise the Minister of State has been in south Galway. I can think of at least six Ministers who have been in south Galway. Every time hopes have been raised. Perhaps I will tell the Minister of State about some of the things that have happened when I have asked supplementary questions. For the moment, all I can say is that when the Minister of State gets the report from Galway County Council, I hope he looks on it favourably. The Minister of State has been looking at flood mitigation works and coastal protection. However, in this case we are dealing with people who have been waiting for years to have the water drained. We need to widen the channel and get the water out to the sea to relieve the flooding. These people have been cut off from their houses and livestock and they are rather concerned about the next fall of rain in south Galway.

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