Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a certain frustration on my part because I have borne with the process for a long time. The Minister of State referred to the fact that, following the completion of the hydrological and hydraulic modelling, significantly more defences were necessary. That was way back in January 2023. We knew this even before Storm Debi and before that again because there was major flooding in 2018 and in between. The lack of skills was never mentioned, the Minister of State will agree, in any reply to date. That is a new burden. Up to this point, it was simply that it was progressing too slowly and each year there was a new obstacle to overcome, in addition to the storms. The money involved was €9.5 million. What will it cost now? What will it cost between now and when it is ready? The original date, as I said, was 2029. Obviously, it is going to be later. We will be paying out all the time and terrible damage will be suffered by homeowners and businesspeople. Surely, at some stage, somebody must say what needs to be done and how quickly and provide a revised timescale and revised figure. There must be consultation with the public. Three days were promised - there was one day two and a half years ago and there have been no updates. We need to bring people with us. They need to know what we are doing.

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