Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would be delighted to indicate that. It is my hope and belief that we will be able to hold a public information day in Arklow in early 2016 at the latest. If all goes well following that consultation and there is an acceptance of the scheme by local residents and business owners, I expect the county council to lodge a planning permission application with An Bord Pleanála in mid-2016. A scheme which has been discussed for a long time but which was left on the shelf to gather dust is nearing the point of being put on public display for the input of local people, if not by the end of this year, which would be my main hope, then by early 2016 with a view to having the planning permission application lodged in mid-2016. When completed, the scheme will protect approximately 600 properties that are at risk, of which 450 are residential, and prevent road closures and traffic and economic disruption in the town.

I am pleased to confirm that funding is in place for the scheme. We must await the finalisation of the feasibility study, but the likely works involved include channel and bank maintenance, tidal and fluvial flood containment walls, non-return valves at pumping stations, a debris trap in the river channel, the removal of built-up river sediments, modifications to and underpinning of the existing bridge and the removal of a pinch point downstream of Arklow Bridge.

See this speech in context