Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I empathise with the Deputy. I fully agree that flooding schemes take an inordinate length of time. We have improved. We have resourced An Coimisiún Pleanála and it is now statutorily bound to give timelines for the issuing of decisions. The Minister for public expenditure is coming to the Government in the next number of weeks in respect of measures that will accelerate the infrastructure development in the country. To me, flood protection is a key infrastructure that is required. Where we have implemented flood relief schemes, they have been very effective. In fact, the report on Storm Amy was that the flood relief schemes, where they have been constructed and built, worked, by and large. There is an urgency, but everybody wants to have their say, as the Deputy knows, and we end up in An Coimisiún Pleanála.

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