Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, and thank him for coming to the Seanad to respond to my query today. In early September, the Minister of State visited Coonagh in County Limerick where flooding had occurred. It happened on a Friday and approximately 25 houses were flooded. The water came into their ecosystems and into some of the homes. There was also flooding in Na Piarsaigh GAA club and in Coonagh Airfield, where both the hangar and several aircraft were damaged.My understanding is that while there has been great progress in terms of people being compensated or looked after, and a number of issues have been resolved around na Piarsaigh and the airfield - I understand that is nearly at a conclusion - there are a number of homes that have not been sorted out. How are those homes going to be sorted out? Also at the time, the Minister stated that there would be an investigation into the cause of this event and what was going to happen maybe in terms of flood defence to resolve this ongoing issue because it is not the first time that Coonagh and this particular part of Coonagh has been flooded. I would like to thank the Minister because certainly when we did contact him on the day, he was very quick to respond and he came down himself to see first-hand how everybody was affected across the sporting club as well as the residents. My concern really is that a number of issues have not been resolved in terms of the residents. Could the Minister give an update as to where he thinks it is at and how long it is going to be before it is finally resolved?

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Byrne. I call the Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran.

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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I thank the Senators for giving me the opportunity to come into the Seanad and explain the current position. The Office of Public Works undertakes routine inspections of all flood defences along the Shannon Estuary. During the routine inspection by the OPW staff of the River Shannon flood defence embankment system, damage to the sluice outfall was noted. The function of the sluice outfall allows for the discharge of water from the area protected by the embankment to the estuary and during the high tides prevented tidal waters in the estuary from entering into the protected area. While repair works had been started in mid-August, due to the forecast of high tides, emergency repair works were carried out on Friday, 30 August and Saturday, 31 August 2019. Unfortunately, these temporary works failed and the water breached the embankments.

The OPW has now reconstructed an embankment at the breached area and is continuing to monitor the area in its current consideration of opinion on constructing a replacement to the sluice control. The OPW acknowledges that in trying to repair the damage to the sluice, the temporary structure did not initially provide appropriate level of protection and did lead to the flooding in the area. I visited the area on Saturday, 1 September 2019 and I met with those affected. I take the opportunity again to thank the affected homeowners for their ongoing support and co-operation. The OPW was in contact with the local authorities over the weekend in question, and sandbags were provided to the affected householders and several pumps deployed to the area. I acknowledge and pay tribute to the council and its staff and to the people who helped out in the area in response to the incident.

In trying to agree a redress for the incident, the OPW acted promptly at all times. In the week immediately following the incident, the OPW met and wrote to those homeowners and apologised for the damage to their homes and contents caused by the situation. In that week, the OPW offered interim payment to the homeowners directly affected by the flood event so they could locate alternative rental accommodation if required and start restoring their homes to their pre-flood conditions. The OPW also appointed a loss adjustor to visit the affected homes in the week following the incident. In addition, the OPW contacted the State Claims Agency, which on behalf of the State is managing the claims for those affected homeowners as well as the GAA club and the Limerick Flying Club. The State Claims Agency is working with the homeowners affected by this event to help establish the quantum of costs in restoring the houses and the contents affected to their pre-flood position. Many of those affected have engaged their own loss assessor, and the State is covering the cost of that service. The loss adjustor has also visited the GAA club and the Limerick Flying Club with a view to agreeing the quantum of costs to restore their facility to pre-flood position. Given the numbers of houses and facilities involved and for reasons of privacy and confidentiality, the OPW cannot make comment on further details in relation to this matter.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I call Senator Byrne.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the Minister. I too want to pay tribute to the council staff who worked extremely hard that weekend, and the staff from the Minister's Department who came to visit. I was in a house within the past week that still has a porch loose and sitting in the front garden. That household has small children, one of whom is a baby.On health and safety grounds alone, the sooner a conclusion can be reached, the better. Some people have been sorted out already. Does the Minister of State have any idea how much longer it is going to take? We are now in the month of December and this happened on 1 September, more than three months ago. I understand that there can be queries around costs and so forth but on health and safety grounds, this must be sorted out. A total of 25 houses were affected although only five had to be evacuated. The sooner this can be resolved, the better for everybody. I ask the Minister of State to take that message back to his Department.

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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I will do that. I ask the Senator to bring the names of those she represents and details of the issues involved to the attention of my Department. Individuals needed help and we did our best to provide it. There are legal issues to be worked through but I want to make sure that everybody is looked after. When I visited the area I met Senator Byrne and a number of her colleagues and assured the people affected that I would do whatever is necessary to get them back into their homes and that the necessary funding would be made available. The OPW is working closely with the people affected and with the local authority. Christmas is approaching and I want to see everyone enjoying it. The last thing I want is people having to contact the Senator because they are worried or concerned about their future. I will take the information supplied by the Senator here today and relay it to the relevant parties in my Department. We will see if we can rectify the problem.