Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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93. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress which has been made by the steering group to advance the flood mitigation works at Ballycar; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56453/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I wish to ask the Minister the progress which has been made by the steering group to advance the flood mitigation works at Ballycar in County Clare. My Government colleague, Deputy Carey, would like to come in on this one as well.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I am informed that a flood alleviation options assessment for flooding at Ballycar Lough was initiated by Iarnród Éireann and was completed by consultant engineers RPS in December 2020. This assessment study built on previous reports of 2011 and 2015 commissioned by Iarnród Éireann. Having considered all various options, the assessment study recommends a new preferred option of a technically viable drainage scheme that would prevent flooding of the railway occurring while also including any flood mitigation measures downstream that would be necessary either directly or indirectly with this option.

The Office of Public Works, OPW, has engaged constructively with both Clare County Council and Iarnród Éireann over recent years in relation to the flooding problem at Ballycar and has participated in a meeting on the matter convened by the council in 2014 and participated on a steering group from 2018 to 2020 comprised of Clare County Council, Geological Survey Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Iarnród Éireann, in relation to the new preferred option.

The selection of the new preferred option was based on the hydrological, hydraulic environmental impact assessments, mainly ecology, geology and hydrogeology, and costs of each option. The primary benefits of the measures identified in the assessment are derived from the protection of Iarnród Éireann infrastructure and accordingly it is with Iarnród Éireann, as the key stakeholder, to lead and pursue the resolution of the railway line flooding problem and to secure funding for the proposed project. The OPW will continue to work with Iarnród Éireann and the other steering group stakeholders in addressing the problems on the rail line at Ballycar. In response to a recent contact from the Department of Transport, my office has indicated that it is available to meet on the matter.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State. I take issue with the answer. He has said Irish Rail is to lead on this project. The solution to this serious issue is a couple of kilometres away from the rail track and really it should be with the OPW and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Confidence will be lost in the service between Limerick and Galway if this floods. We had 2.5 times the normal rainfall just in October and it is not unlikely that we will see flooding on this line like we saw back in 2014 and 2015. If that happens, the service will be knocked out for anything between seven and 15 weeks, perhaps even longer. I am afraid to say that this has been passed from Department to Department and back again. The report is there now over two years and it seems that nobody wants to take ownership of this issue. It will be very detrimental to our ambitions to enhance public transport between cities and across the country if we allow this to happen and do not act now to prevent the flooding of the line.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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There were five options recommended by the assessment study. The first was removing underground restriction between the swallow hole and spring and ancillary works. The second was attenuation of some flows at Rossroe and Fin loughs. The third was diverting the Rossroe Lough sub-catchment flow towards the Ratty river catchment along with removing the underground restriction between the swallow hole and the spring. The fourth was raising the existing railway embankment in the vicinity of Ballycar Lough. The fifth was pumping of flood flows from the swallow hole to the spring. Option 2, attenuation of some flows at Rossroe and Fin loughs, along with removal of restriction between the swallow hole and spring and ancillary works, was the one that was identified in the report and is the preferred option.

The next stage is for funding to be obtained. The indicative duration of the project would be between seven and ten years. It is not a straightforward project. The primary purpose of the project is to protect the railway line between two cities, as the Deputy says, Limerick and Galway. It is recognised that this connection has been interrupted on a large number of occasions over the last decade.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I acknowledge that it is a long-term project. The situation at the moment is that responsibility for the project is being passed between different Departments. That is a problem. We are two years in now and nothing has been done. A recent parliamentary question I submitted to the Department of Transport passed the buck again over to the OPW. Now we are hearing the buck being passed back again. It is not acceptable because if it keeps going on we are going to get flooding on the line. Everybody will accept a solution that takes seven to ten years to finish out but they will not accept it if nothing is being done when it can be done. We are losing years and have lost two already. A solution has been identified. It is a critical piece of infrastructure. We cannot afford to lose confidence in the service between Limerick, Ennis and Galway. That is what will happen if we do not act on this as soon as possible.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Leddin for putting forward this question. It is an issue we have both worked on. We have had meetings with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. There really needs to be a coming together. Why not have a joint venture between both Departments? There is an identified solution there. It was originally costing €20 million. Both the Minister and the Minister of State will be aware of the fact that all these prices are escalating. The quicker we do it the better value for money we will get. We are ignoring the problem. I put in a parliamentary question last week to the Department of Transport. It is pointing at the OPW. It is literally pass the parcel. We need a solution to this. One has been identified. Both Departments need to get behind it and fund the option. The Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy has been published.

It hangs on the need to invest in rail. A rail spur to Shannon Airport is identified in that and various rail stations have been identified. This is a key link between Ennis, Limerick and Galway so the matter needs to be rectified. There is a solution and we need both Departments to fix it.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The Deputies have done the right thing in meeting both Departments. It is a key role of all politicians to broker agreement between different parties. The view of the OPW is that it is acting in an advisory role. Deputy Leddin is telling me the Department of Transport is saying it is an OPW job. We have all been in this situation before. I will bring the Deputies' comments back to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. It is a multimillion euro project of between seven and ten years so it is cannot happen quickly. I hear the Deputies and I will take their comments to the Minister of State and the Minister.