Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on his role with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. I wish him well. The Minister of State might remember being down in Galway city a number years ago when he announced funding of over €9 million for the Galway city flood defence works. That scheme is progressing, unfortunately like many others, very slowly. The Corrib go Cósta project is to assess, design and deliver a viable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable flood relief scheme for Galway city. When I raised this issue some two years ago in the House, I was pretty much told it would be a decade before the scheme would be completed. That is sort of run of the mill for major flood defence schemes. I am ware that it is an environmentally sensitive area, but that is no good when the next storm comes. I am sure there will be another storm and another flood if that storm coincides with high tides.

One of the issues that came up on the canvass in Galway city was the possibility in the meantime, while we are waiting for these things, of floodgates being provided in respect of homes in the Claddagh area of Galway city. I am not sure what the cost of a floodgate is, but it is considerably less than the amount of money being spent on consultants and various reports. Is that something the Minister of State might look into? Could those homes that are occupied and that do not have their own defences be provided with floodgates, be they at the doors or at the gates of the properties? They could go some way towards providing peace of mind and, hopefully, alleviating the impact of flooding. Is that something the Minister of State might take up, if possible?

I concur with some of the comments about waters, cleaning and removing debris. It is important, and I say this as a former Minister of State with responsibility for Inland Fisheries Ireland, that any works be done with the permission of Inland Fisheries Ireland and within season. We cannot advise anyone to do something that will result in them ending up in court. There are examples of trees falling into rivers and being left there. They are no one's responsibility. The owner cannot take responsibility. The rivers are not owned by the State. They are riparian rivers. Who can go in and remove a tree if it suddenly creates a bit of a dam that can give rise to consequences when a major flood occurs? I think of the Owenglin River in Clifden, where there would be examples of flooding having happened. The second major scheme I want to talk about is the Clifden scheme. There was a major flood there a number of years ago when the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, was in charge. There were a number of reasons that flood happened but it was a monumental rainfall event. Can we look at leaky dams, as they are called in Scotland, which are upstream to stop the water from flowing down as quickly and to encourage storage of water for a time during the initial downpour? Can that be looked at in places like Clifden and elsewhere? Will the Minister of State provide an update to me, in his own time, about the Clifden scheme? There have been concerns about whether that would be cost-effective. It is important that funding is provided to progress a scheme to protect residences near the Owenglin and the riverside of Clifden. I thank the Minister of State.