Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take the last question first. We are at a very advanced stage with the feasibility report. We have gone back to Arklow Town Council for a number of observations and I expect the issue to be resolved by the summer. Once the report is back with us we will know the preferred design and the cost-benefit ratio, which will clearly be strong, given that 600 properties are involved, of which 450 are houses and the rest are commercial premises. Once we have the report back I am very confident that the OPW will be able to profile the work as part of its multi-annual plan. One of the benefits of having a multi-annual envelope of funds available for this and other schemes is that we can get going on it in a relatively short time, because I understand the work will take years, with a lot of disruption to the town and the community. We must undergo a planning process and a design process and we need the public to buy into it, because it will cause disruption to the commercial life of the town, as is the case in many parts of the country I visited recently, such as Fermoy and Mitchelstown. It takes time to develop a scheme in all of those areas. I reassure the Deputy that we are very aware of the importance of the scheme for Arklow and County Wicklow. It is a priority for us and we have funds in place as part of the existing multi-annual financial framework. As soon as we get the feasibility issues over the line, especially on the cost-benefit side, we can then get going on the design, planning and consultation stages with the community.

I reassure Deputy Timmins that the funds are very much in place for the scheme. It is a major priority for us. We have a huge responsibility to the local area, which has been dramatically affected in the past two decades on more than six different occasions. The life of the town has been badly affected by flood and storm damage. The complication in this case is due to there being a problem with the sea and with the river. A fluvial event with the sea coming in could mean a disaster for the town. Providing a solution is hydrologically complex and we must get it right before we commit the funds, but I assure the Deputy that the funding is in place.

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