Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his letter to me and all that. I have to put on the record, however, that CFRAM goes back over a decade. I was there as a city councillor when that wonderful work was carried out. It was crystal clear to us, however, and we had no expertise, that they were working on the basis of events happening once every hundred years. We have been flooded nearly every year now for a very long time, so the whole concept was wrong to start with. Then we go forward and I think there was, if not an argument over fees, quite a delay over them. I can understand that because the consultants were employed to do one type of work and then suddenly there was a much bigger scope, but the council has been fully aware of that since 2021. It is now 2024. The steering group is meeting tomorrow. Will there be publication in the next week or two of the programme of works with dates and an emphasis on public consultation? Has the situation with regard to fees been sorted out?

See this speech in context