Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Moloney for raising this issue. Unfortunately, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, cannot be present for this debate, but he asked me to extend his thanks to the Senator. I will take this Adjournment matter in his stead.

As I am sure the Senator knows, the OPW is aware of the location's flooding problem, which the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, understands has been ongoing for a number of years. However, as the River Cullavaw, a tributary of the River Blackwater, does not form part of any arterial drainage scheme for which the OPW has a maintenance responsibility under the Arterial Drainage Act 1945, as amended, the maintenance of this watercourse does not fall under the OPW's remit. This position was notified to Kerry County Council in February 2011 in response to a resolution adopted by the council requesting that the OPW carry out works to address the flooding issue. The OPW's position was reiterated in the Minister of State's reply to Parliamentary Question No. 95, which was tabled by Deputy Tom Fleming on 10 November 2011. In both instances, it was advised that it was open to Kerry County Council to submit an application under the minor flood mitigation works scheme for funding to implement measures to alleviate the flooding problem. To date, no such application has been received.

The scheme was introduced by the OPW in 2009 to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding problems within their administrative areas. The scheme generally applies to relatively straightforward cases where a solution can be readily identified and achieved within a short timeframe. Under it, applications are considered for projects that are estimated to cost not more than €500,000 in each instance. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for approved projects, with the balance being funded by the local authority concerned. Works that would be normally the responsibility of the council or for which funding is available from other State bodies, for example, road repairs or gully cleaning, will generally not be considered for funding.

Local authorities submit funding applications in the prescribed format. These are assessed by the OPW, having regard to the specific economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including the cost benefit ratio. Any proposal should be cost effective, have no negative social and environmental effects and not create a significant flood risk elsewhere.

Regarding the benefit-to-cost ratio, proposals must meet a minimum of 1.5:1 to qualify. The benefit-to-cost ratio for a particular project is calculated under the terms of the scheme, having regard to the total costs of the works and the value of the total benefit accruing from such works.

It is a matter for the council to devise a feasible engineering solution to address the problem and to submit it to the OPW for consideration under the scheme. Any proposal received from the council will be assessed under the scheme's criteria, having regard to the availability of funding for flood risk management. Should funding be made available, the commencement and progression of any work would be a matter for Kerry County Council.