Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)

Lough Funshinagh is a designated special area of conservation turlough and has experienced increasingly severe flooding in recent years. Roscommon County Council has implemented temporary flood defences, including road raising and water level management. The council is being supported by an expert working group comprising representatives from the Office of Public Works, OPW, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Geological Survey Ireland. The group has concluded that the lough is not draining as it used to and that this, in part, is the cause of flooding and is also a risk to the ecological status of this area of conservation. To address this, the council has developed a three-pronged approach, including the provision of individual property protection for those properties at flood risk, which includes TrapBags installed at selected locations around the lough. The OPW has approved funding of €529,000 for the provision of these measures.

Due to the significant flooding that occurred in the spring of 2024, the development of an interim flood relief scheme became the primary focus in advance of the permanent scheme. The €5.2 million interim scheme includes a temporary pipeline and pumping station for over-ground pumping of water from the lough to a discharge point on the Cross river. Planning permission for this scheme was received from An Bórd Pleanála in January of this year, with the pumps activated in March. As of 12 May, thee pumps were deactivated in accordance with the parameters outlined in the planning application until water levels in the lough begin to rise again.

Roscommon County Council has been stopped on two occasions, by means of judicial reviews, from completing emergency permanent works to reduce water levels back to normal. The council, with funding from the OPW, is currently progressing the Lough Funshinagh climate adaptation project. The studies and assessments that have been completed for the interim flood scheme are applicable to the permanent scheme. Roscommon County Council-----

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