Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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It is unsatisfactory that the Minister, to whom this Adjournment matter is personally addressed, has prepared a script without knowing what I have to say. It is not acceptable and I hope the Dáil reform committee will deal with such situations so that when questions are put to Ministers, they or their juniors would be present. This is no reflection on the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, who has the chore of reading scripts he has never before seen concerning matters about which he does not know.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should contact the other Whips.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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We are dealing with it and have agreed a proposal to force Ministers and Ministers of State into the House when it is their job to be present, but we have other matters with which to deal before we can finalise it.

The Waterways estate in Sallins, County Kildare, was built in 2006 and occupied shortly after late 2007. Planning was done in two phases and matters in the planning files indicate confusion as to the nature and extent of the drainage required. While the developer complied with some parts of the requirements, he is also the subject of enforcement notices from the local authority and others.

The Waterways flooding has notable aspects, one being that it was entirely avoidable. The flood was not caused by a large river breaking its banks or by virtue of the estate being built on a flood plain. It was caused by an inadequate and partly blocked culvert. The flooding of houses up to a depth of 4 ft. lasted from the morning of Sunday, 21 November until the evening of Tuesday, 1 December. A blocked culvert under the road was identified as the cause. However, despite the fact that the problem was identified at an early stage, it became almost impossible to get the necessary work sanctioned to clear the culvert. The local authority claimed it was the business of the management company, which claimed that it could not deal with the matter because the culvert was outside the estate. Eventually at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 1 December, the local authority gave permission to have the road opened and the culvert cleared. In a few hours, the flood water had subsided and it was gone within 12 hours.

The residents - owners and tenants - were left with a massive task in trying to rescue what remained of their properties. Work is now under way to install adequate drainage systems that will ensure no recurrence of such a disaster. I am raising this matter because it is important to the residents that, when the remedial work is complete, their insurance companies are assured that no such flooding will recur. I am satisfied that this is the case, as the works currently under way will be effective in preventing future flooding.

I refer to the interview given by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, on "Prime Time" on RTE on Monday, 4 January. I do not do this in a hostile sense. During his interview, the Minister stated that it was not called Waterways for nothing, in that it was built on a flood plain. Whatever the Minister might believe concerning the estate's name, he was wrong to state that it is built on a flood plain. I am not suggesting that he did this in a malicious way, but it is most important for the residents and their ability to get insurance against future flooding, if any, that his statement about a flood plain be corrected.

My colleague, Deputy Bernard Durkan, and I have already raised this issue by means of parliamentary questions without a satisfactory response. Indeed, our questions were ignored. When the OPW, the Government's expert on flooding, was questioned on this point, it stated that the area was subject to flooding - we knew this, seeing as how it was flooded - but certainly did not state that it was a flood plain.

I ask the Minister of State to correct the record specifically to ensure that the earlier statement is not used by insurance companies to increase premiums or refuse insurance. I am hopeful that he will take this opportunity to do so. Sallins in County Kildare is a highly desirable location in which to live, work and raise a family. The Waterways estate is a very desirable location within Sallins and its residents deserve our best efforts to restore the area's reputation. The Minister might not even know we are here, but I hope that the Minister of State will ask him about this matter directly. I am not suggesting that the Minister commented maliciously. It was an off-the-top-of-the-head remark, but one that is causing serious difficulties for residents and needs to be corrected.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Recent experience has highlighted the need to develop a deeper understanding of flood risk, how we manage and reduce that risk and how we deal with the effects of significant flood events. A sound planning approach is central in avoiding and reducing flood risk by integrating the consideration of flooding potential into the planning process, first, through the spatial planning process at regional, city and county and local levels, and also in the assessment of development proposals by planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála.

The recent flooding events sharply illustrate the questionable nature of some development decisions in the past and underline the necessity for action to avoid such developments in locations in which future flooding is predictable. In this regard, the guidelines for planning authorities on the planning system and flood risk management, which were jointly published by the Minister, Deputy John Gormley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, last November, introduce a more consistent, rigorous and systematic approach to flood risk identification, assessment and management within the planning system. These guidelines provide, inter alia, that development in areas at risk of flooding, particularly flood plains, should be avoided unless there are wider sustainability grounds that justify appropriate development and where the risk can be reduced or managed to an acceptable level.

The guidelines require the planning system at national, regional and local levels to avoid development in areas at risk of flooding, particularly in flood plains, unless there are proven wider sustainability grounds that justify appropriate development and where the flood risk can be reduced or managed to an acceptable level without increasing flood risk elsewhere; adopt a sequential approach to flood risk management when assessing the location for new development based on avoidance, reduction and mitigation of flood risk; and incorporate flood risk assessment into the process of making decisions on planning applications and planning appeals. It is likely that some lands will have been zoned for development in existing or previous plans without the benefit of a detailed flood risk assessment in accordance with these guidelines and in the absence of detailed flood risk mapping, which is now being carried out by the OPW. Where a review of a development or local area plan shows that there may be a flood risk on certain zoned lands, such zonings must be reconsidered.

The guidelines define a flood plain as any low-lying area of land next to a river or stream that is susceptible to partial or complete inundation by water during a flood event. While strict application of this definition to the land on which the Waterways estate in Sallins was built may be a matter of interpretation, the fact remains that a development that otherwise complied with proper planning and sustainable development was inundated by water following unprecedented recent rainfall. The Minister understands that, in conjunction with Irish Rail, Waterways Ireland and the OPW, Kildare County Council has identified the scope of remedial works necessary to minimise the likelihood of recurrence of flooding in this area. These works are ongoing and should be completed in the coming weeks.

It is important that planning authorities and all other key stakeholders apply the principles and practices for flood risk identification, assessment and management within the planning system in line with the guidelines. In the context of the Minister's statutory role in the planning process, he will continue to assess development and local area plans to monitor implementation of these principles at local level to ensure that future development takes account of these policies.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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May I ask a brief question?

Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There can be no response.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Obviously, the people who wrote the Minister of State's response had no idea about what matter I was raising.

Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Perhaps the Deputy could take it up with the Minister.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State ensure that it is brought to the Minister's attention? I would be grateful if he did.

Cyprian Brady (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and the Deputies.