Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am advised that the project is delayed due to the review and update of the design flow and water level data. This review, since the completion of the western CFRAM study, resulted in several years of additional flow and water level recordings being used.

Together with detailed wave overtopping analysis, this has resulted in a potentially significant increase in flood risk to several areas of Galway city. In other words, the scope of the original project was not sufficiently broad and the environment changed in the period while it was being analysed. This increase in flood risk is primarily due to higher tidal design levels and an increase in wave overtopping volumes, which has led to larger flood extents and a greater number of properties potentially being affected. The consultant noted an increase in project scope on 9 December 2022. At the time, the hydrological and hydraulic analysis was still ongoing and any redefinition in project scope would have been premature. There were also a number of iterations of modelling outputs which the project team reviewed in detail and it was important to obtain ground truth in respect of these predictions, which is a time-consuming process. It is important to note, however, that the progress of the project has not been affected to date by the redefinition of the project scope.

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