Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind the Deputy that within a short time of the flooding in Newcastle West in 2008, a major flood relief scheme was completed there by the OPW. Similar schemes were completed in Cappamore and Dromcolliher. Major works are ongoing in Limerick city to protect King's Island and work has been completed in Coonagh. Immediately after I visited Kilmallock, the OPW completed a tree and vegetation control there and more work is ongoing in that regard. Work is also going on at Bresheen South where the channel meets the River Loobagh. The Deputy will know that silt and vegetation works have been done on the R512 at Gurteen, which is the on road to Ardpatrick. Silt removal works have also taken place in Kilmallock.

These works have been done in consultation with Inland Fisheries Ireland. Any delays are a source of frustration to me and to the OPW but we have to go through a planning process. The Deputy was a member of Limerick County Council for a period of time and he will know that OPW personnel cannot just arrive at a river and do whatever they like. There must be a planning process. The Deputy will know from his own occupation as a builder that one has to go through a process to do anything. In regard to specific personnel within the OPW, I would not like to respond to what individuals outside the House did or did not say.

It is important to point out that in other parts of County Limerick, such as Castleconnell and Athea, consultants have been appointed under the CFRAM report. Limerick city and environs is also going forward, again under a CFRAM report, which is a major flood risk assessment being carried out with more than €1 billion committed by the Government.

For the remainder of the schemes in Limerick that were announced in 2018, including Rathkeale, Foynes, Askeaton, Adare and Newcastlewest, work is progressing to develop each of these within the lifetime of the national development plan. One area the Deputy did not refer to, and maybe he was not aware of it, was the massive flood alleviation works in Foynes, which the Office of Public Works completed to the satisfaction of everybody in Foynes, during the period of the last Dáil. Not everything the OPW does is a bad job.

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