Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In October 2016 I submitted two parliamentary questions on flooding in east Cork, predominately Midleton. The Minister of State is probably well aware that in 2015, many areas in east Cork were totally destroyed. The main road from Cork to Waterford was blocked for several weeks. The area I want to speak about specifically is an area in Midleton, namely, Towns Park, Mill Road, Midleton. I brought to the attention of the Minister of State a catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, study carried out in 2013. It advised on the measures to address flood risk in this area and in Towns Park, Midleton, in particular. The area was subsequently flooded leaving three homes completely uninhabitable.

This means three families cannot live in those houses to this day. I hope the Minister of State will be able to answer my question. The CFRAM study cost a good deal of money. I have read the study on numerous occasions. I provided the Minister of State with two copies of it, one to his pigeon hole and another by hand. Page 16 of the report predicted where the flooding would materialise. The report estimated the volume of water, which reached heights of over 1 m in the area at the time. Pages 26 and 27 of the study proposed preventative recommendations and measures. Recommendations included a landscaped embankment and the associated costs for carrying out the works. The range was between €15,000 and €25,000. That is not a great deal of money in comparison with two two-storey homes and one bungalow.

If possible, can the Minister of State tell me who is responsible for carrying out these works? Who has sole responsibility for ensuring these studies are acted upon? Why were the recommended preventative measures not carried out?

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