Results 7,381-7,400 of 10,903 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Flood Risk Management (19 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I welcome the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the progress being made on the Dundalk, Blackrock south and Ardee flood relief scheme. As the Senator knows, I visited County Louth to learn more about the flooding in the county and the plans the Office of Public Works has to manage the risk. I am aware of the impact of flooding on homeowners, businesses and communities in the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Flood Risk Management (19 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is important to point out that as part of the scheme, Louth County Council intends to integrate in a comprehensive and planned manner to consider the construction of a greenway that will form part of the proposed greenway link from Belfast to Dublin that is often referred to as the great eastern greenway. It will enable walkers and cyclists to travel off-road between Belfast and Dublin....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I visited Bantry following the recent flood events, including last month after the flooding of 28 properties during Storm Barra. I have seen at first hand the devastation that flooding has caused to homeowners, businesses and the wider Bantry community. The flood risk management plan launched in May 2018 included a recommendation to progress the design, planning and construction of a flood...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: There are two elements to this scheme. One concerns the culvert running through the centre of the town and the other is the flooding that happens from the harbour, which is part of the wider Bantry flood relief scheme. It is evident from meetings involving officials of Cork County Council and the OPW that the council is progressing the design of the culvert element via its own engineering...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Clonakilty scheme is completed and has been handed over to Cork County Council, while the schemes in Skibbereen and Bandon have more or less been completed as well. The true test of the pudding is in the eating, though. As someone who knows Bandon intimately, being able to say that the town did not flood during Storm Barra, and that my brother's pub did not flood, unlike in almost every...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The voluntary homeowners relocation scheme was introduced by the Government in 2017 to address the serious flooding of those properties that flooded in the winter of 2015 and 2016, including those properties flooded by turloughs. To be eligible for assistance under this one-off scheme, a homeowner had to meet a number of conditions, including that floodwater entered and damaged the building...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy will appreciate, a long-standing precedent means I cannot comment on individual cases in the House because I do not have the details. If the Deputy furnishes them to me, I can have them examined by the OPW and the relevant officials in the Department.

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: My two immediate predecessors in this role - Deputy Canney and former Deputy Moran - worked on the development and design of this scheme and the OPW will always hold it in our arsenal. If we need to revert to the Government with a similar request for relocations on a case-by-case basis, the OPW, together with the relevant authority, will seek to do that based on the lessons we have gleaned....

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am advised by the Office of Public Works that a major flood relief scheme for Donegal town was identified in the flood risk management plans for the north-western river basin. The proposed project, at a preliminary cost estimate of €8.5 million, consists of floodwater storage and a series of flood embankments and walls, which will provide flood protection to approximately 73...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: In the immediate aftermath of Storm Barra, I met the commissioners and chairman of the Office of Public Works and senior officials on a regionalised basis, dealing not only with the north west but with all our regions, to see if we could expedite those projects not currently in tranche 1. We have an issue in that, unfortunately, some of our projects are logjammed in judicial reviews, court...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I said in answer to an earlier priority question from Deputy Cairns from Cork South-West that we do not have the capacity, capability or even legal standing to move projects any faster because we are a party to planning processes. If we were to decide to try to gazump the planning process, people inside and outside this House would be looking to try to get us into the Four Courts. We have...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Office of Public Works (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: An Blascaod Mór is a nationally and internationally significant heritage site due to the important literary and cultural output of this tiny community in the first half of the 20th century and the substantial collection of books – nearly 100 in all – that have been written about life on the Blasket Islands in the past century. An Blascaod Mór is also part of the...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Office of Public Works (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I get many invitations, but the Deputy's invitation to spend a night with him on the Blasket Islands is a unique one. I probably cannot resist it, to be fair. I know that part of the world well. I visited recently and there is a great community there. The Office of Public Works was delighted to be able to sort out the issue with the playground with the local community. I thank Deputy...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Office of Public Works (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: We are looking forward to reopening the centre on the mainland. Deputy Griffin is right. We also want to be able to reach out to the diaspora from the island who emigrated to North America, in particular to Springfield in Connecticut where many people from the island settled. We want to allow people to see where their people came from and from where they were evacuated to the mainland...

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank the Deputy. This scheme is being progressed under the Arterial Drainage Acts, and therefore is the subject of formal confirmation by the Minister, as he just stated. This is a statutory requirement under the Arterial Drainage Acts, which, under recent European Union regulations of 2019, also require the Minister to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the proposed scheme....

Ceisteanna Eile – Other Questions: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: First, the commitment of the OPW and Mayo County Council is well documented. I thank Deputy Dillon and other Government Deputies from County Mayo who have given their support to this. I have been to Crossmolina and I am aware of the difficulties associated with this. The scheme will protect approximately 120 properties. The town has been inundated several times so we want to progress it....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Risk Management (19 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Office of Public Works commenced construction of the Fermoy North flood defence scheme in 2009, and the scheme was completed in 2011. The Scheme comprises grass embankments, permanent walls and demountable flood barriers and pumping stations and is designed to protect 77 properties on the north side of Fermoy against the 1-in-100-year flood event. Damages avoided in such an event in are...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Risk Management (19 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Skibbereen Flood Relief Scheme was substantially completed on 6 June 2019.  All known defects arising from the construction have been remedied, with some delays as a result of Covid-19. Planning for the operation and maintenance of the scheme is ongoing in conjunction with Cork County Council, who will act as agents of the OPW in carrying out the statutory operation and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Risk Management (19 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 411 and 412 together. The Government has allocated €1.3bn under the National Development Plan to 2030 to support the design and construction of some 150 flood relief schemes to manage Ireland’s risk from significant flooding. Cavan County Council confirmed in May 2019 that the Council would act as lead agency on the management and delivery of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Risk Management (20 Jan 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: Thank You, Deputy Crowe, for your question in relation to the upcoming programme of works in Clare. Your query covers a range of projects from minor works to large capital programmes and drainage maintenance. The OPW have invested heavily in Flood Relief projects in County Clare over the last number of years and continue to do so with a cumulative value for active schemes in excess of 70...