Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)

At the weekend, the towns of Portarlington and Mountmellick were flooded again for the umpteenth time. There are flood relief schemes planned in both towns. These were decided on after the serious flooding in both towns in 2017, which was eight years ago. Work is ongoing, and Laois County Council is playing its part in trying to advance those schemes as quickly as possible. However, because of all the different hoops that these schemes have to go through, schemes are taking between 15 and 17 years. I think we can all agree that is too long. It is a ridiculous length of time. The Mountmellick scheme has gone to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which is welcome. Hopefully, it can make a decision soon. However, as things stand, the Mountmellick scheme will not be done until 2031 at the earliest. For the Portarlington scheme, we are looking at 2033.

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