Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy mentioned some areas such as Cong, which I visited last week. Local authorities have a mechanism under the minor works scheme by which they can apply for funding of up to €500,000 for any of these projects. As regards Cong, which the Deputy specifically mentioned, the local authority is preparing the necessary estimates to submit them to the OPW for funding approval. In other areas in Mayo and Galway similar minor works applications have been made continuously since 2015 and that is replicated across the country. However, local authorities could be submitting more of these applications. Funding is there for works that happened last year and up to €500,000 can be provided if they meet the criteria.

Our major projects are taking far too long to bring through the process so we can get construction on site. I am acutely aware of that and have done an analysis of what happened in the past since I came into office. As regards the future, I have created a working group in a few Departments to try to reduce the time taken to get flood relief projects on the ground. It is frustrating for people but small projects can be dealt with by local authorities immediately.

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