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

In the immediate aftermath of Storm Barra, I met the commissioners and chairman of the Office of Public Works and senior officials on a regionalised basis, dealing not only with the north west but with all our regions, to see if we could expedite those projects not currently in tranche 1. We have an issue in that, unfortunately, some of our projects are logjammed in judicial reviews, court challenges and a pile of other delays outside our control and the control of our local authority partners. It is a matter of trying to see if we can expedite some of the projects in tranche 2 and other tranches. The Office of Public Works engineering staff, together with our local authority colleagues, are working to see if we can do that, but we have a limited number of personnel and finite resources to do so. It is not that we are in any way holding back anything; we are animating as many projects as we can. It is my intention, as soon as I can in the coming weeks, to visit County Donegal and meet officials from Donegal County Council to discuss not just Donegal town but the other projects we are progressing through the CFRAM projects to see how they are progressing and to see the investment of the Office of Public Works. I hope to be in a position to give a fuller timeframe in respect of Donegal town and the other CFRAM projects at that stage.

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