Dáil debates
Thursday, 23 November 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Flood Risk Management
3:45 pm
Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. In the past few weeks, we have seen the devastating impact floods can have on communities, North and South and all over the island of Ireland. Last month in Midleton the main street was submerged in 3 ft of water in only eight minutes, leaving a trail of devastation in that community. There has been similar devastation in County Down, with towns such as Downpatrick, Newcastle and Newry heavily impacted by flooding. In 2002, in my constituency, Ringsend and Sandymount experienced the harsh realities of not having flood defences. It was traumatic and I distinctly remember being in the areas affected and the devastation caused for residents. I know the Irish Red Cross intervened and work has been done in Ringsend along the River Dodder, which has made a significant difference to the residents and given them a sense of security.
The Sandymount flood protection project was initiated in 2003 following the major flooding in 2002. More than 20 years on, we have seen little or no progress. All we have seen from Dublin City Council is the stalling of these works. The community is sick and tired of being given start dates for work, only for it to be stalled again and again. It is a disgrace and an insult to the local community that these vital works have been delayed again.
The most recent announcement is that there will be a delay of ten years. Understandably, residents in Ringsend are devastated by this news. Given the increase in flooding and the speed with which it happens, residents are absolutely horrified that it will take ten years before work will start again. I have been speaking with local people over the past week and they are devastated and disappointed with the news from Dublin City Council. The entire area of Sandymount is at risk of flooding. There are more than 1,000 homes in the area so the potential risk to the community is enormous. How is it possible that these works will take more than a decade to deliver?
The Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association has sought a meeting with the Minister of State with responsibility for public works, Deputy O'Donovan. I would appreciate if the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, would bring the message back to his colleague the need to take the residents up on that offer to meet them. I strongly urge the Minister of State to accept that invitation. It is really important. He is, after all, from Newcastle West, a town that has suffered from the devastation of flooding, so he understands flooding. He should take up the residents' request to meet them.
I ask that Minister of State with responsibility for public works also engage with Dublin City Council to seek clarity as to why a flood defence system will take ten years to deliver. I ask that he and the council work together to ensure they reduce the timeframe for the completion of these works because there is a real concern from the community that its voice is not being listened to. I ask that every effort be made to reduce the timeframe. The ten-year timeframe is far too long for people, young and old. It is not acceptable and there has to be real engagement on and an urgency about progress for flood defences in Sandymount and along the coast around Dublin Bay. It has been glacial and it needs to be speeded up as a matter of urgency.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan. I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this important issue.
The Office of Public Works is responsible for leading and co-ordinating the implementation of flood relief schemes to protect Ireland against significant flood risk from rivers and the sea. The catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme, Ireland’s largest study of flood risk, was completed by the OPW in 2018. CFRAM studied the flood risk for two thirds of the population against the risk of flooding from rivers and seas. An output of the CFRAM programme, the Government’s flood risk management plans, provides the evidence for the design and construction of an additional 150 relief schemes for the most at-risk communities. The Government has committed €1.3 billion to 2030 under the national development plan to deliver these 150 additional flood relief schemes.
Since 2018, a partnership between the OPW and local authorities throughout the country has allowed Ireland to treble to approximately 100 the number of flood relief schemes currently at design, development and construction stages. The progression of flood relief schemes involves complex engineering and construction solutions and therefore requires lengthy planning and decision lead-in times. The process for the development of flood relief schemes follows a number of stages, including stage 1, scheme development and preliminary design; stage 2, planning; stage 3, detailed design; and stage 4, construction. During the relevant stages, extensive and detailed technical analysis is required to establish the most appropriate solution, which also has to be adaptable to the increased risk from climate change. Extensive public consultation is also required at various stages to ensure that those affected by a scheme have the opportunity to make an input into its design and implementation.
Ecological and archaeological issues that arise during the relevant stages often require in-depth analysis in order to ensure that the technical solution selected will meet the requirements of existing EU and national environmental legislation.
In relation to the flood relief scheme in Sandymount that Deputy Andrews mentioned, the OPW is providing technical and financial support to Dublin City Council that is leading the development and design of the flood relief scheme at Sandymount. In 2022, following discussions between the OPW and Dublin City Council, it was agreed that the Sandymount flood relief scheme would be progressed through a steering group consisting of representatives from the OPW and Dublin City Council. To facilitate the appointment of consultants for the Sandymount flood relief scheme, Dublin City Council is undertaking a tender process for the establishment of the multi-party framework agreement for consultant engineering design services for flood alleviation projects, with the initial contract being the Sandymount flood relief scheme. Dublin City Council issued its tender on 2 November and it is planned to appoint consultants in the first quarter of 2024.
The development of a detailed project programme for the Sandymount flood relief scheme will commence following the appointment of an engineering consultancy for the scheme. Dublin City Council has completed preliminary design works on a possible design option for part of the overall Sandymount flood relief scheme. While it is envisaged that stage 1 of the Sandymount flood relief scheme to identify an option will take approximately three years, the appointed consultants will be tasked with identifying whether advanced works or a phased approach to the overall scheme can be progressed. Following the identification of the preferred option, the Sandymount flood relief scheme will be required to go through various stages of development, including environmental assessments for planning, design and construction. I will take back the request of Deputy Andrews to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the OPW with regard to meeting the residents and Dublin City Council. We all want to get schemes built as quickly as possible.
3:55 pm
Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State and I would appreciate if he would do so. Clearly ten years is an unacceptable wait for residents for flood relief works to be completed. It is very important that people get their heads together. Everybody in the House would agree that families should not have to live in fear of the next flood. This is what people in Sandymount and Ringsend are worried about.
In a related matter, in June there was a discharge by Uisce Éireann of large volumes of raw sewage directly onto the shoreline in Sandymount with no warning to the community and no clean up effort by Uisce Éireann. The utter lack of respect shown to users of Sandymount Strand by the likes of Uisce Éireann is an absolute disgrace. No community should be subjected to raw sewage being released onto a beach, which is an amenity and a biosphere.
Uisce Éireann has also refused to deal with the serious problem caused by ectocarpus algae along the strand. It strikes me as no coincidence that we see a large bloom of algae following the discharge of wastewater into the bay from the Ringsend and Sandymount treatment plant. The look and foul odour of the algae leaves much of the strand unusable. Residents have repeatedly sought action from the council to combat the algae on the strand. Like so many other issues, their concerns seem to fall on deaf ears. The algae look and smell like faeces. The levels of algae on Sandymount Strand in recent years have increased dramatically. It is not a coincidence that these levels of foul algae have increased with the increase of raw sewage discharges into Dublin Bay.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Andrews. We understand how important the scheme is. Once the scheme is completed it will protect 1,000 properties, as Deputy Andrews mentioned. The Government is committed to the delivery of a flood relief scheme in Sandymount, and the OPW and Dublin City Council are striving to expedite and progress the capital flood relief works with minimum delay. A process is under way. A tender has gone out to appoint engineers and consultants. They will consider the work that has been done to date by Dublin City Council and see whether it will be required to be done in one or two phases.
With regard to the points made by Deputy Andrews on Uisce Éireann, I suggest he writes to me and I will follow up with it on his behalf.