Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am responding to the Deputy on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, who regrets that he cannot be here this afternoon. The most extensive impact of the weather to date in the transport sector has been on the road network through both pluvial and fluvial flooding. This has caused serious disruption to daily life in many areas and has led to the cutting off in some cases of small communities and households across the country.

Regional and local roads are the statutory responsibility of each local authority, and the authorities in the affected areas have been working very closely with all the relevant State agencies, including An Garda Síochána, to manage the immediate impact of the storms and floods. The Minister has asked me to acknowledge the tremendous work done by all concerned to ensure warning signs were in place, diversion routes were organised and signposted, and information and advice were made available to the public via websites, social media and local radio. The Road Safety Authority has also played its role in supporting and disseminating safety messages for all road users.

Local authorities and Transport Infrastructure Ireland have advised the Minister's Department that it is not possible as yet to obtain a comprehensive view of damage to road pavements until the floods fully recede and investigations and assessments are carried out. Bridges that were damaged as a result of the flooding and storms will need to be inspected and a detailed assessment of the damage undertaken. TII has engineering consultants on a bridge framework available to commence inspections once flooding has subsided. Where underwater inspection is required, this is a specialist area and only a limited number of consulting engineers have the capability to undertake such inspections. The chief executive of TII has written to local authorities offering the services of the framework consultants if there are non-national road bridges that need to be inspected. In certain cases, it may be some months before full information is available on the cost of repairs. In other cases, where water levels have receded more quickly, the timeframe will be shorter. The Minister's officials and TII staff will engage with local authority officials to minimise the timeframes associated with critical repair works.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has been taking the lead in responding to the immediate needs of local authorities arising from the storms and flooding and has provided funding to local authorities to allow them to deal quickly with the clean-up and implement the measures needed to protect public safety. That Department has also sought submissions from local authorities setting out both the estimated short-term costs and the costs related to damage to infrastructure, including transport. This is to ensure that a comprehensive picture of the full cost of the recent flood event across all sectors, including the road network at national, regional and local level, is garnered both by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. So far, 25 of the 28 local authorities have reported on their estimated infrastructure damage costs, and my Department is in the process of reviewing the estimates received so far.

The roads capital budget for 2016 is tight but, as indicated to Deputy Cowen, the Minister has asked his officials as a matter of urgency to assess areas where funding can be reprioritised or reallocated in order to release funding to deal with the consequences of the storms. The Minister is also conscious that the scale of the damage incurred and the overall substantial cost involved will require a cross-departmental response and he is liaising with Government colleagues on the funding needed.

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