Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin "Boxer" Moran. I concur with the expressions of sympathy to the families of those who suffered bereavement and the three fatalities in Waterford, Tipperary and Louth, and also commend the work of the State, local authorities and Office of Public Works. I also acknowledge the work of Met Éireann on ex-Hurricane Ophelia.

Maintenance of rivers and other watercourses can have a positive role to play in preventing the deterioration of channel conveyance capacity. The Office of Public Works carries out a programme of arterial drainage maintenance to a total of 11,500 km of river channel and approximately 730 km of embankments nationally. These maintenance works relate to arterial drainage schemes completed by the OPW under the Arterial Drainage Acts 1945 and 1995. The OPW has a statutory duty to maintain the completed schemes in proper repair and effective condition. The annual maintenance programme typically involves some clearance of vegetation and removal of silt build-up on an average five-year cycle. Each year, work is carried out to approximately 2,000 km of channel and approximately 200 structures around the country. Maintenance of all drainage schemes carried out under earlier Acts, known as drainage districts, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority.

However, it is important to understand that maintenance on its own will not protect towns and would have had no beneficial effect on extreme flood events as experienced recently in Donegal. Maintenance is only one aspect of Ireland's approach to dealing with flooding. It is important to place on the record of this House the Government's plans and preparations to address flood risk. The Government investment in flood relief capital works since 1995 is yielding significant benefits and is already protecting 14,000 properties. The cumulative value of the benefits from major and minor schemes is estimated to be in the region of €1.5 billion. This investment includes the 39 major flood defence schemes already completed, providing protection to 8,000 properties as demonstrated during the floods of the winter of 2015 and 2016. There are ten new major flood defence schemes under construction with further schemes at design and planning stages. When completed, this programme will provide protection for an additional 12,000 properties.

Since 2009, over 600 projects protecting 6,000 properties from localised flooding have been approved for funding under the Office of Public Works' minor works scheme. The OPW will continue to provide important funding to local authorities to deal with localised flooding issues. The current priorities of the OPW are to publish and implement flood risk management plans to address significant flood risk for 300 communities throughout Ireland and to deliver the capital investment programme of major flood defences that will protect thousands of properties during severe flood events. The Government's ongoing commitment to tackling flooding is witnessed from the €430 million six-year programme of capital investment in flood defence measures as part of the Government's overall capital investment plan for 2016 to 2021. During this time, the annual allocation for flood defence schemes will more than double to €100 million to deliver the existing and proposed projects. This significant allocation for flood risk management was confirmed in the mid-term review of the capital plan published recently by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The flood risk management plans also emphasise the importance of non-structural measures and support the whole of Government approach adopted to tackle flood risk management.

The OPW chairs the interdepartmental flood policy co-ordination group and the Shannon flood risk State agency co-ordination working group. Progress is being made on a broad range of policies and measures. For example, planning guidelines have prevented building on flood zones since 2009. Work to develop a national flood forecasting and warning service is progressing and some flood alert systems are in place in the interim. The OPW and Mayo County Council are progressing an individual property protection pilot project in Crossmolina. This initiative will provide protection to up to 76 properties and, together with another pilot project in Kilkenny, will inform any future feasible assistance by Government to homeowners for individual home flood mitigation. State agencies continually monitor and, where possible, control river levels within their areas of responsibility, including on the Shannon. The Shannon working group is trialling the lowering of levels in Lough Allen to complement existing water level protocols in place for Lough Ree.

The OPW and Geological Survey of Ireland are collaborating to assess the areas potentially at risk from turlough flooding, both now and into the future, and to determine if potentially viable measures exist to manage this risk, where it is significant. A once-off targeted homeowners voluntary relocation scheme has been introduced for those primary residential properties that flooded from 4 December 2015 to 13 January 2016. The national Be Winter Ready campaign in the winter of 2016 and 2017 focused on creating greater awareness for the public to plan for a flood event in their homes and businesses.

While the OPW has a lead co-ordination role in flood risk management, local authorities are designated as the lead agencies for responding to severe weather events, including flooding. Emergency planning at both a national and local level is reviewed to ensure a rapid and effective response for any future events.

See this speech in context