Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The next matter for Topical Issues debate is in the name of Deputy Michael McNamara to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, on coastal defence studies. The Minister of State, Deputy Harris, will take that matter. May I first offer Deputy Michael McNamara my good wishes on his recent engagement?

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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I thank the Acting Chairman. I do not know where to begin after that.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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It has been a little over a year now since west Clare and many parts of the west were very damaged by unprecedented storms. It seems like a lot longer but time flies when one is having fun and the reverse is also true. For the people who live there, the intervening period has not been entirely satisfactory. They have seen considerable delays in repairing a lot of the damage that was done to public infrastructure. There were 43 impacted sites identified by Clare County Council after the weather events, and of these, 15 have by now been fully restored and 28 require further work. Clare County Council estimated the cost of works required to address the damage from the storms at approximately €36 million, which included both the cost of repair and reinforcement works.

To date, €17.6 million has been provided for the council for repair works only. Repair works have been carried out in a number of locations, including Liscannor, White Strand and Kilbaha. The Minister of State will be glad to hear repairs to essential tourism infrastructure have been carried out and there are works in progress in other areas, including works which recently began on the Kilkee seawall, all of which is funded by national Government.

However, the allocation from the Office of Public Works is for repairing infrastructure only and not for new or upgraded storm defences. I have been quite critical of Clare County Council over the past 12 months for its failure to advance the repair works given the damage caused, the impact this has on communities which must relive the damage caused by those events and the impact there could be on tourism. Clare County Council has explained to me that, in some instances, the reason it has not spent that money is that it wants to see upgraded storm defences and it does not want to spend money on repairs on something which could be swept away again in the next spring tide. This may well have been a one in a hundred year storm, although it may not have been.

Clare County Council has applied for feasibility studies for seven of ten locations which have been identified as needing storm defence work. We had a meeting in a room on the ministerial corridor with residents of Clohanhinchy who described the harrowing events of that night. Funding has been granted for a feasibility study there. Clare County Council has also applied for feasibility studies for seven other sites to date. Applications have been made in respect of Kilbaha, Clahane and Flaggy Shore, which were sent to the OPW on 5 January 2015 while applications for Lahinch, White Strand, Miltown Malbay and Ross Bay were sent in on 12 January 2015 but there has been no reply to date. The council is currently preparing applications for money for feasibility studies in respect of Spanish Point, Quilty and Liscannor. Will the Minister expedite the applications for moneys?

While I was critical of Clare County Council for not doing more work, there is a compelling logic to what it says that there is no point spending scarce resources on repairing something which could require repair again in a mere season's or two seasons' time. On that basis, I would like an assurance that it will be expedited.

There is also the matter of a minor works application for damage to embankments along the Shannon Estuary and at Clohanhinchy. The IFA has been involved in compiling and putting forward that application. There is considerable confusion in regard to it and a public meeting was called quite recently. The Minister of State's office offered me certain assurances but again, I would like an assurance that application will be dealt with expeditiously and, I hope, with a positive outcome.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I echo the Acting Chairman's words of congratulations to Deputy Michael McNamara and his fiancee and wish them both the very best on their recent engagement.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter which, in fairness to him, he has consistently raised with me since my appointment to this role eight or nine months ago. Ireland is a maritime nation and so coastal flooding and erosion are understandable subjects of concern to communities living around our coast. As the Deputy said, the issues were particularly brought to the fore last winter, when substantial damage was caused to coastal infrastructure in a series of severe storms during the period December 2013 to February 2014.

The carrying out of appropriate studies is essential in addressing coastal protection issues. Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process which takes place around the entire coastline. Coastal erosion may threaten human life, infrastructure, such as roads, and may undermine and cause damage to properties. However, it should also be recognised that coastal erosion also has beneficial effects to the local environment, such as providing natural nourishment and supply of sediment to adjacent beaches.

Due to the considerable extent and nature of the Irish coastline impacted by erosion and the fact that it is an ongoing natural process, it would be uneconomical and impractical for the State to attempt to protect all of this coastline, which we all accept. We must be prepared to accept this reality and the implications it has in terms of policies to be adopted and decisions to be made on how we manage the future development of our coastal environments and the impact of this on the communities that reside therein.

On 11 February 2014, the Government allocated total funding of up to €69.5 million for clean-up, repair and restoration works in regard to public infrastructure damaged in the storms during the period 13 December 2013 to 6 January 2014. Of this sum of €69.5 million, up to €19.6 million was allocated through the Office of Public Works for repair of existing coastal protection and flood defences based on submissions and cost estimates made by the local authorities concerned to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. In the case of County Clare, a sum of up to €8,276,433 was allocated to the county council. Based on this allocation, the council subsequently submitted a programme of storm damage repair works at 26 locations in the county for approval by the OPW. This was approved by the OPW on 13 May 2014.

To date, a total of €1,182,155 has been drawn down by the council. The council has indicated to my office that works are ongoing at other locations on its programme and that it expects to draw down the bulk of the balance of the funding allocated by the Government decision during this year. Provision has been made in the OPW's allocation for 2015 to enable local authorities to draw down this year any outstanding balance of the funding allocated to them.

Clare County Council has indicated that it proposes to undertake a programme of major coastal defence enhancement projects at a total of ten locations over the next three to four years, with an indicative estimate of cost of €15 million to €20 million. These projects are for new or significantly upgraded or strengthened coastal protection structures. As such they fall outside of the scope of the Government decision which related to repair works only.

It is a matter for each local authority in the first instance to identify and address priority areas of their respective coastlines considered to be under significant threat from flooding or erosion and Clare County Council may carry out flood mitigation and coastal protection works and studies using its own resources. In putting forward proposals to central government for funding of appropriate erosion management measures, it is a requirement that any such proposals and funding applications for structural measures to prevent or mitigate coastal erosion are put forward in conjunction with an appropriate coastal erosion risk management or feasibility study which fully investigates, substantiates and demonstrates the merits of any measures being proposed. Such measures usually require the investment of substantial amounts of public funds and in order to ensure value for money, a study to assess the viability of any proposed measures must be carried out in advance.

To answer the Deputy's question directly, we have received a request from Clare County Council for funding to undertake studies to examine if there are viable measures that could be progressed at seven locations. The application in respect of Clohanhinchy was submitted in 2014 and I was pleased we were in a position to provide funding. The applications in respect of the other locations were received last month, they are currently being considered and a decision will be made shortly in this regard.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his congratulations, but he will excuse me if I press him for further details because my fiance's family is from west Clare and she may seek specifics on the issue.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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That is fiances for you.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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Unfortunately, this whole idea of coastal erosion is not new. While the damage caused to many parts of Ireland - Clare was not unique but, I suppose, it suffered the worst of it - was unprecedented but not entirely unpredictable. A report, Coastal Management - A Case for Action, was published by EOLAS on behalf of the county and city managers in the 1990s. A whole raft of areas requiring immediate coastal protection were identified in County Clare as in all other coastal counties. A long and detailed list was provided in respect of County Clare, which was far more comprehensive than that for which the council is now seeking feasibility studies to examine works. The total cost of all of that protection work back then was a mere £14 million, which is approximately €19 million. While €19 million was a lot more money then than it might be now, nevertheless, we are now talking about almost €19 million to repair the damage alone, without ever providing any coastal protection into the future.

A raft of infrastructure was developed by the State, albeit the State which preceded this one, including culverts, embankments, etc. However, there is much doubt as to who owns them.

I have been engaged in some correspondence, but I have received correspondence from Councillor Christy Curtin going back to the 1980s and beyond between people like Noel Treacy and Brendan Daly in county secretary positions that no longer exist. This is not to be critical of them personally, but rather of the approach taken by officialdom in denying responsibility. We do not need to know whose responsibility it is not, we need to know who owns these pieces of infrastructure and who is responsible for their upkeep because nobody can hope to do anything with them or apply for funding in respect of these essential flood protection mechanisms. They were built for a very good reason and the necessity for them continues today. Will the Minister of State also address that issue?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the specifics. It is very important to get this right. There is a time for studies and a time for action, but in relation to coastal erosion, it is very important that if the taxpayer is going to pump millions of euro, or more, into funding schemes related to coastal erosion, we get it right. To its credit, Clare County Council has submitted seven applications to my office. One application at Clonahinchy for a study has been sanctioned and that is ongoing, six were only submitted last month. My office is currently examining them. I will raise this with my officials and we expect decisions shortly.

The Deputy is right about coastal protection. The Irish coastal protection strategy study is a major examination to assess and identify the most significant areas of erosion risk for the entire national coastline. This major study is effectively complete and it will provide invaluable and essential information required to inform policy in this area. It is mapping for the first time the entire national coastline and the erosion hazard maps produced and published under the study will be available to local planners to inform and guide decisions on local coastal planning issues.

I am not trying to pass the buck, but planning plays a role. I have stood in far too many homes and on far too much commercial land where planning permission was granted, perhaps in the knowledge, or at the very least in the ignorance, of flood risk. That has brought misery to many people and one thing we must get right is planning decisions in this country. That is the responsibility of our local authorities.

I will move on to the issue of responsibility. The Deputy is dead right. Who is responsible for the Shannon? Everybody. When everybody is responsible, nobody is responsible. So many organisations are responsible that things fall between the stools. Part of the objective of CFRAM, the catchment flood risk assessment and management, is to look at 300 areas in this country at risk of flooding, not just to decide what needs to be done, but also to assign responsibility for doing it. Is it a matter for the OPW? Is it for a State agency? Is it for the local authority? That process will come to a conclusion this year and will be implemented next year.

Regarding the issue with the IFA and embankments, I hope to be in a position to meet with a delegation from the IFA and Oireachtas Members in Clare shortly. The crucial question is who is responsible. Is it the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is it the county council, or is it the OPW? We need to get people around the table and I am happy to facilitate getting people around a table in order to get to a conclusion.