Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Consultation on the Ballinasloe flood relief project with the OPW starts today. Ballinasloe was devastated by floods in 2009 and again in 2015. Millions of euro worth of damage was done. I am sure many here from the west will remember that. St. Michael's Square, businesses and Derrymullen were underwater. It was huge. As a result of that, Ballinasloe was prioritised under CFRAM, the catchment-based flood risk assessment and management programme. That was wonderful. In 2011 there were scoping exercises. In 2016 there was a preliminary report. There were consultation days last year and today the next consultation starts. This has gone on for years and nearly decades but we are getting just two weeks for a public consultation period. I have spoken to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, about this. During lockdown, the OPW could only do virtual assessments. We hope to see that on the website but as of now there is still nothing on the website. We need to see an in-person engagement with Arup, the liaison consultants on engineering, about what this means. I mention emerging options for the routes around Ballinasloe.

It is fantastic to see this project being progressed. However, the information is available only in physical copies and the maps are only available in the library and the municipal district which are only open for limited times during the day, including the weekend. It is very important that an exercise similar to the last consultation where the liaison consultants were available during the day and in the evening to engage with the community happens again, perhaps in the local hotel. It is also important that we liaise with the person on the ground who will meet those with concerns in the community. Galway County Council has someone involved in this, who is based in the city. The consultants are based outside the county. It is crucial that we see this happen in the local area and see this development happen. It will take a number of years but we need positive engagement with the community at this early stage.