Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy raises a matter that is of extreme concern to us all, and should be. She is correct that it is not only down to climate change or sea level rise that this is happening now, but this certainly is being exacerbated by it. In many parts of the world, retreat and abandonment are becoming part of climate adaptation strategy. It is something that is with us and something we have to collectively address. If the Deputy is referring to the climate nature fund as the rainy day fund, it is certainly an important fund to help embed resilience across the country in terms of climate and biodiversity loss.

I thank her for raising the matter. The challenge posed by rising sea levels is clear. The practical implementation of measures to mitigate these risks, particularly for coastal communities, is of critical importance. I welcome the opportunity to bring some clarity on the matter.

With respect to responding to coastal change, local authorities are, generally, responsible for the management of matters associated with coastal change and erosion in their respective administrative areas. Other coastal risks such as to transport, agricultural and business, are addressed locally and through sectoral responses. The minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme was introduced by OPW in 2009. The purpose of the scheme is to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas.

With regard to County Wexford, the OPW provided funding of €331,549 for emergency works at Seaview in November 2021. These works consisted of the installation of rock armour cliff toe protection over approximately 70 m to 85 m of cliff frontage immediately adjacent to an access road to 14 properties at immediate risk of erosion.

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