Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The process started in 2012, and when I left the council in 2016, it was finishing the process of identifying the flood risks. We are now in 2024 and all the stages have gone by the board. Instead of construction starting in 2026, a planning application is now going to be submitted in 2027. I do not think the Minister of State could be happy with that, given Galway city is flooded practically every year, without exaggeration. My office is in that area, so I have a particular interest, even though it is only an office, which is nothing compared with what the homes are suffering. Every year, there is a cost to the Exchequer, not to mention the damage to the homes, problems with insurance and everything else. I have no idea what is going on and I do not think the steering group does either. The website has not been updated. Different targets have been given but none of them has been met. All I am told is there is complexity. I live in Galway, opposite Galway Bay, so I know how complex it is, but the steering group knew that from day one. It has either misjudged everything, therefore, or there is some incompetence somewhere along the line. Something is wrong somewhere in this scenario.

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