Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this issue and for the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, for coming to the House to respond to it. I look forward to a positive response from him. Templemore flood relief scheme is going on a long time and there is a long history attached to it. I will not go into all the details, but suffice to say that a public exhibition on a proposed solution to deal with the flooding problem for the long-suffering people of Templemore was held between 30 January and 4 March 2009. The Minister of State is aware of the difficulties flooding places on people. There is not just the damage to property, inconvenience and the horror they experience at the time but the subsequent problems, such as lack of insurance and the real fear that it will happen again. Flooding is occurring more often and must be addressed.

Issues arose following the exhibition and on-site inspection, some of which related to landowners and commercial property owners in the area, and it was decided to review the scheme. Following the review it was decided that the technically preferred route should be adhered to, but that did not happen. Once the decision was made, further public consultation and another exhibition were required. The exhibition took place in March of this year. We were told by the Office of Public Works that a complete property owner review would be carried out, interference notice schedules would be prepared by mid-March 2014 and a public exhibition would be held at the end of March 2014. In fairness to the OPW, it adhered to its timetable.

The timetable also specified that confirmation would be obtained by the end of June 2014, a detailed design of works would be ready by mid-July 2014 and on-site work would commence in mid-August 2014. That has not happened and I seek a reason for that from the Minister of State. We were given assurances by the Minister of State’s predecessor, Mr. Brian Hayes, and Mr. Michael Collins of the OPW, who announced the scheme at the then Templemore Town Council in 2011 to the great delight and relief of the people of Templemore. The Minister of State and other senior officials came again following the review in 2013 to re-announce the scheme. They said it was one of five schemes that was going ahead in the country. They were delighted to state at the time that following the review and the option for the technically preferred route, the scheme had reduced from €13.8 million to €8.9 million and that it would go ahead.

Will the Minister of State explain why the then Minister of State and the officials from the OPW told the people of Templemore that the flood relief scheme would go ahead when it did not and that, subsequent to the review, people were again told the scheme would go ahead but it did not? Will the Minister of State outline the reasons for the delay and provide a clear commitment on his behalf and on behalf of the OPW that the scheme will go ahead sooner rather than later?

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