Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)

I very much welcome the opportunity to address the House matters relating to flooding. As Deputies are aware, this is a priority issue for the Government. We are focused on the delivery of flood relief management measures to address flooding issues for communities across the country. I will be brief in outlining some of the relevant context, achievements and challenges in relation to actions that have been taken to tackle these flooding problems. I look forward to engaging with the Deputies on the issues and working with them on the delivery of much needed solutions for our communities that are affected by flooding and flood risk.

The Office of Public Works, OPW, co-ordinates the whole-of-government approach to manage coastal and river flooding and its social, economic and environmental impact. It does this through the interdepartmental flood policy co-ordination group. The whole-of-government approach is necessary to support flood risk management. The Departments and the State agencies involved each take a lead in the context of providing efficient supports and policy measures within their areas of responsibility and promoting and addressing community and individual responses. The core policy objective is to reduce to the greatest extent possible the impact of flooding on homes and businesses across the country. In doing so, the OPW provides support for non-structural measures and delivers structural measures, including working closely with local authorities to progress flood relief schemes for the at risk communities nationwide.

Flood policies have three key pillars, namely prevention, protection and preparedness. These are underpinned by research and data evidence. Prevention is aimed at avoiding or removing flood risk and can be achieved by, for example, avoiding construction on flood plains. Protection is aimed at reducing the likelihood or severity of flood events. This typically involves physical work such as defending at-risk areas against flooding through the delivery of major flood relief schemes. Preparedness includes actions and measures that can be taken to reduce the consequences of flooding. I refer, for example, to informing the public about preparing for the risk of flooding and taking appropriate actions during a flood event.

Historically, risk management focused on arterial drainage to improve land for agriculture and to mitigate flooding. Arising from increasing flood risk in urban areas, the Arterial Drainage Act 1945 was amended in 1995 to permit the OPW to implement flood relief schemes to provide flood protection for our cities, towns and villages. To identify the communities that are at risk from significant flood events, in 2018, the OPW completed the largest study of flood risk ever undertaken by the State. The catchment-based flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme was undertaken by engineering consultants on behalf of the OPW, working in partnership with the local authorities. The CFRAM programme studied 80% of Ireland’s primary flood risk and identified solutions that can protect over 95% at risk.

As the Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works and flood relief at the time, I was pleased to publish the 29 flood risk management plans to address flood risk in Ireland in May 2018. These plans have provided a roadmap for the Government's significant investment in flood relief schemes today, identifying 150 new and additional flood relief schemes that will provide protection to approximately 23,000 homes and businesses in communities across the country. The Government is supporting the delivery of the measures outlined in the flood risk management plans by means of national development plan funding of €1.3 billion to 2030.

Progressing this significantly increased programme of flood relief schemes requires capacity and capability in the highest specialised areas of engineering. Many of these schemes are being led by the local authorities in partnership with the OPW. As each scheme is progressed by multidisciplinary teams, designing the optimal technical solution, ensuring a robust approach to environmental assessments, and meeting other regulatory requirements are all essential steps that are required to be undertaken. To assist in the delivery of the of the schemes, the OPW is funding 50 engineering staff in local authorities across Ireland.

Nationally, significant progress has been made to date in the delivery of these ambitious programmes to protect communities against flooding from rivers and the sea. Investment through the national development plan and working in partnership with the local authorities has allowed the OPW to treble the number of flood relief schemes at design planning, or construction to some 100 schemes at this time. Work to protect 80% of all at-risk properties nationally has either been completed or is under way. To date, the OPW has invested €570 million in 55 flood relief schemes, protecting 13,500 properties with an estimated economic benefit to the State in damages or losses avoided of €2 billion.

The OPW's major flood relief schemes are typically designed and built to a standard that protects areas against one-in-100-year flood events and coastal areas against one-in-200-year flood events where it is feasible to do so. These are major flood events that can cause significant impact and are often called once-in-a-lifetime floods. In reality, the phrase "one-in-100-year floods" means there is a 1% chance of such floods occurring in any single year. While the likelihood is low, the impact of these floods is significant in terms of the damage caused.

The OPW’s work is particularly important in the context of climate change, which will have a significant impact on flooding and flood risk in Ireland due to rising sea levels, increased rainfall in winter, more days of heavy rain and more intense storms. Certain studies indicate that climate change has already had an impact on our climate on the basis of recent flood events. These effects will become stronger over the decades to come. As with managing existing risks, the first step in managing the potential future risks associated with climate change is to assess what the possible impacts will be, where they are likely to occur and how severe the impact may be.

The OPW flood mapping programmes have included projections of future scenarios, taking into account the potential impacts of climate change. As a result, the OPW has comprehensive national information of potential future flooding from rivers and the sea for all areas across the country. These include the impacts of a range of possible scenarios for mid-range to higher end projections, such as a mean sea level rise of 2 m.

As well as informing where flood relief measures might be required, the flood maps prepared by the OPW are an essential support to sustainable planning and development management, and the effective implementation of the statutory guidelines on planning and flood risk management. The OPW provides support, workshops and seminars to the various planning authorities and reviews all forward planning documents to help ensure that flood risk is taken into account in planning directions and that the guidelines are implemented efficiently.

While the OPW strives to expedite the progress of flood relief schemes, major flood relief schemes involve complex engineering and construction operations that can impact people's lives and the built and natural environment. The process is lengthy and detailed and follows five stages from feasibility through to design, planning and construction. While timelines may vary significantly from project to project, completion of stages 1 to 5 takes, on average, a total of 11 years. Specifically, the five delivery stages are as follows: scheme development and preliminary design, an average of 48 months; planning process or public exhibition and confirmation takes an average of 24 months; detailed design takes an average of 12 months; construction takes an average of 36 months; and, finally, the handover of the works takes an average of 12 months.

Any flood relief scheme that is being developed needs to map and understand the location and the flooding sources and constraints. These are achieved by extensive and wide-ranging surveys to understand the topography, hydrology and environment of the community. Market demand and competition for these necessary surveys for flood relief schemes and other developments has resulted in an extension of the period of time needed for these surveys to be completed. Detailed technical analysis is further required to establish the most appropriate solutions, technically and environmentally, from the range of possible design options.

Extensive public consultation is required at various stages to ensure that those affected by the scheme have the opportunity to input into the design and implementation. The delivery of all schemes must meet the regulatory and planning requirements. While a key part of due process, timeframes to obtain planning decisions, as well as managing judicial reviews to those decisions, impact on delivery timelines.

Notwithstanding these challenges, I am pleased to report that in 2024, five schemes - those at Crossmolina, King’s Island, Morrison’s Island, the River Poddle and the River Wad phase 1B - progressed to construction stage, as planned. This brings the total number of flood relief schemes currently at construction stage to 11 schemes nationwide. Such schemes will benefit communities in a wide range of counties, including Cork, Clare, Dublin, Kildare, Limerick, Tipperary, Mayo and Westmeath. I have visited a number of these sites. Recently, I was pleased to turn on the interim pump solution to help manage the flood risk at Lough Funshinagh in County Roscommon pending the completion of a permanent solution. Roscommon County Council, with the assistance of the OPW, is actively working towards preparing for submission a planning application for the permanent solution to flooding at the lough.

When the schemes in the flood risk management plans are completed, 95% of those properties assessed in the CFRAM study will be protected from flooding. The residual risk is being addressed by other flood risk management measures, including the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme, individual property protection, the voluntary homeowners relocation scheme and enhanced preparedness, including through the development of a national flood forecasting and warning system and the promotion of individual and community resilience.

As well as managing significant flood events, the OPW supports local authorities in managing localised flooding risks. Under the OPW minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme, local authorities can undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised fluvial flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas. Under the scheme, applications are considered for the projects, and the estimated cost is no more than €750,000 in each. As of the end of 2024, the OPW had approved funding of €68.6 million across 900 unique projects.

Under the Arterial Drainage Act 1945, the OPW completed 34 arterial drainage schemes on river catchments and five estuarine embankment schemes. The OPW has a statutory duty to maintain and complete these schemes. The arterial drainage maintenance programme comprises 11,500 km of river channel and up to 800 km of embankments. This provides drainage for 260,000 ha of agricultural lands, as well as a level of protection from flooding to essential infrastructure, including in excess of 20,000 properties, 2,400 km of roads and 77 towns and villages.

Under the 2024 programme of works, maintenance was carried out on 1,937 km of arterial drainage channel and 207 km of embankments. These works comply with all relevant environmental legislation through a range of environmental assessments, including strategic environmental assessments, appropriate assessments and ecological assessments, and are supported by widespread stakeholder consultation.

Concerns about the impact of arterial drainage on the environment have resulted in calls to review the Arterial Drainage Act. I am not opposed to a review of the legislation, if necessary, but I am concerned about the importance of schemes delivered under the Act to the communities that are protected by them. In that context, the Programme for Government - Securing Ireland’s Future, contains a commitment to completing the second phase of the land use review, which is aimed at balancing environmental, social and economic considerations. Any review of Arterial Drainage Act requirements must be framed by land use policy and have regard to flood risk and existing and future requirements for arterial land drainage.

If I may, before I conclude, I will take the opportunity to sincerely thank my officials in the OPW. They deliver key services to a wide range of clients and communities. I am pleased to work with such a dedicated team. I am proud of the long legacy that the OPW has in delivering these services across the country. I would also like to thank the Members of this House for their time, work and commitment in the context of improving society and the lives of our citizens. I appreciate their interest in matters relating to flooding. I invite and welcome statements from them.

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