Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)

I will pick up where Deputy John Connolly left off and talk about a number of schemes in Cork. It frustrates the life out of people that they are waiting ten, 12 or 15 years for these schemes, from concept through to design and being built. I accept that it is not straightforward. As Deputy Connolly noted, there are concerns about special areas of conservation and inland fisheries and a myriad of environmental concerns need to be addressed that are covered under EU directives, so we have to respect those. At the same time, any process that allows this to rumble on for ten, 12 or 15 years needs a radical overhaul.

I live a couple of kilometres from Glanmire. The scheme for Glanmire has been going since 2009 or 2010. Thankfully, we are in the last year of it. Despite the chaos, traffic inconvenience and all the other inconveniences, it will be a significant relief to people when it is actually delivered later this year or early next year. That said, this has gone on since 2008 or 2009. It is protecting a couple of hundred properties but during that period, Glanmire flooded three times. We were talking about this concept coming to design. We told people it was coming and that we were dealing with the council and the OPW but the village flooded three times during that period. That requires radical overhaul.

Unfortunately, it is the same for the scheme in Blackpool. There was flooding in Blackpool on multiple occasions in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The scheme proposed for Blackpool is caught up in an environmental impact assessment. It was challenged through judicial review by a local voluntary environmental group. That is fine. It is part of the process but, unfortunately, that has been sitting with the Minister since 2018. It was then green-lit in 2021 and subsequently challenged. Since then, it has sat on the desk of Ministers and an environmental impact assessment is still being considered. It needs to be brought forward urgently. It will cover 290 properties and commercial businesses.

I will speak more widely about insurance. I know it is not the Minister of State's brief but it is something we need to work on collectively. There has to be some provision brought before the House regarding schemes that are delivered and have been proven to work such as Mallow in Cork. The Mallow flood relief scheme has worked for a number of years without incident. It is the same with Fermoy. The people living in those properties are protected by the OPW scheme but cannot get flood insurance. I know this issue is brought up here every year. We need to look at it. If a scheme is in place, functioning and proven to work, I do not see why people cannot get insurance cover.

My last point concerns the Department of public expenditure. We are talking about doing things faster, whether it is related to flooding, housing or something else. We talk about cutting through red tape and bureaucracy. This is never more true than in the case of flood relief schemes but the knowledge that schemes can be delivered expeditiously and people can be protected is the greatest relief we can give these families.

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