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

The short answer is "No". For instance, what we will require in Dundalk are hard defences, flood embankments, walls, rock armour, coastal protection, demountable barriers, road raising, sluice gates, tanking, channel conveyancing improvements and road changes. There is a massive amount of work to be done in Dundalk alone, not to mention Drogheda, Baltray and Greenore. These are massive civil engineering projects. It is not possible to just magic away the volume of water that is coming. That is before even getting into the issue of the people who will jump up and object to the schemes for these communities. This is happening all over the country. Can the Deputy help me? Absolutely, he can. If he could wish away all the objections, court injunctions and delays experienced by the OPW and Louth County Council, as well as every other local authority across the country, he would be doing me a significant favour. Those delays are the scourge of communities.

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