Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

Tá a fhios agam gur rud é seo atá fíorthábhachtach don Aire Stáit. Fáiltím go bhfuil na hóráidí seo ar siúl inniu.

I recognise that this is an issue that is of particular interest to the Minister of State. I thank him for facilitating these statements, which are very welcome. I also recognise that there has been a significant increase in funding for the OPW's flood defence programme in recent years. I understand that from a financial perspective and acknowledge that more has been done with regard to flooding. As the Minister of State outlined, this is not solely a financial issue and it was never predominantly one. I remember having significant engagement with one of the Minister of State's predecessors, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, on this issue when there was bad flooding in Clifden, which he visited at the time. We have had bad flooding in Galway city as well. At the time - almost five years ago - I stated that many of the issues were due to how long it takes to develop flood defences, as the Minister of State outlined just now.

Flood relief schemes are complex, multi-annual projects in respect of which detailed analysis of the sources and causes of flooding is required. Of course, there is a need for detailed stakeholder engagement, whether that is with people who live in an area, who are affected and who have seen how things have changed. I always think it is quite interesting speaking to people who live in a locality and discovering how the nature of flooding there has changed.

One of the things we all recognise is that it takes far too long for projects to go from the initial stages to completion. At the moment, there are the initial phases that involve scoping exercises, scheme development, preliminary design, the planning process and detailed design, and that is before we even get to the point of doing the physical infrastructure part. It can take many years for larger projects to be completed. The Minister of State mentioned 11 years. Previously, some projects took seven years to complete. For those who are faced with the fact and fear of having their homes flooded and have previously had them flooded, this is deeply concerning. This is a situation where we have good news to the effect that flood defences will be provided but where it then takes a long time to get them in place.

In Galway, there is the area of Spanish Arch, the properties around the Claddagh and the city itself. We have the Coirib go Cósta scheme. I welcome the fact that approximately 940 additional properties will be protected once that scheme is complete. We were told last year that planning permission for the scheme may not be applied for until 2027. Will the Minister of State provide an update on the Coirib go Cósta scheme? Specifically, will he indicate whether he is still planning towards 2027 in respect of this scheme? Can the scheme be expedited or has it been delayed? It is very important that people have all the information in this regard.

I am aware that a significant commitment has been made to Galway when it comes to flood defences as part of the national development plan. As a result, the review of the latter needs to be published soon. Is there anything in the review that the Minister of State can tell us about which might be relevant to the Galway flood defences?

The Minister, Deputy Chambers, has set up a new task force on infrastructure delivery. I hope the issue of flood defence will be included in that. When we are looking at lands that can be built on, flood defence is a crucial consideration. We had oral questions with the Minister this morning. He stated that the task force will look at barriers to getting infrastructure delivered. If the length of time we know it takes for flood defences to be completed could be a particular focus of the infrastructure task force, that could be quite worthwhile. There have to be ways for us to find efficiencies, whether it is procurement or identifying steps that can be a bit too onerous - without making them not onerous enough - and that are contributing to delays in delivery.

The Minister of State's predecessor, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, previously stated that skills shortages are an issue. From my previous role as spokesperson for further and higher education, I know that there are major issues in our craft apprenticeship system in terms of delays. I have often floated the idea of a craft apprenticeship guarantee scheme for the public sector in order that we can build capacity within it. The OPW is about growing its in-house capacity and using it. The organisation has staff who are qualified engineers, architects and tradespeople. Perhaps that is something we could take a look at. I look forward to hearing the contributions of other Members.

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