Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be ready when representatives of the IFA come knocking on my door.

I was also asked about Dunkellin in south Galway. The real problem in that area is presented by the local topography and it is a very difficult issue to sort out. We are working with Galway County Council, with which we have developed a very good relationship on foot of the significant flooding that has occurred in south Galway. We will see whether solutions can be found.

I hope I have tried to answer some or all of the questions asked. This issue will not go away. I suspect that when my short obituary of one or two lines is written, it will focus on this issue. I doubt it will say "he solved the flooding problems in Ireland". One would want to be around for another 150 years to solve all of them. The OPW has taken a huge interest in this problem. The corpus of expertise it has built up during the CFRAMS process will be hugely important for the country into the future. It will be the first time we will have the evidence needed. That will be really significant when investment decisions are being made and we are arguing to the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform that capital investment is required. The support of colleagues in this House and elsewhere will be crucially important in getting many of these projects over the line.