Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will confirm the way money has been allocated to Clonakilty Town Council and or Cork County Council to carry out minor works in Clonakilty in the aftermath of the 28 June flood of 2012; the amount of these funds that has been spent by the council to date; if the Office of Public Works will consider further applications for funding of minor flood relief works at Clonakilty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12717/13]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The Office of Public Works allocated funding to Cork County Council of €350,000 under the Minor Flood Works and Coastal Protection Scheme in 2010 for channel capacity improvements for Clonakilty, of which €202,456 was drawn down by the end of 2012. OPW did not allocate any further funding for Clonakilty in 2012.

Clonakilty was identified through the national Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment as an area where the flood risk was potentially significant and was hence designated as an Area for Further Assessment (AFA), for which detailed analysis is to be carried out under the South West Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Study.

In response to the severe flood risk in Clonakilty evidenced by the flooding of 28 June 2012, it was agreed at a meeting between Cork County Council and OPW in July 2012 that the study of Clonakilty would be accelerated under the South West CFRAMS project. The flood risk assessment and the analysis of flood relief options for Clonakilty are being prioritised with a view to developing as soon as possible a comprehensive solution to the flooding problems the town experiences. The hydrological and hydraulic analysis under this study is currently nearing completion, and consideration of the possible options to develop a solution has begun. It is anticipated that a draft Preliminary Options Report will be provided to the OPW and Cork County Council for technical review in early summer, with a range of potentially viable options, including a provisionally preferred option, being subsequently presented to stakeholders and the public for consultation in mid-summer of 2013. The preferred option for flood relief in Clonakilty, with outline design, should then be identified by Autumn 2013, subject to the outcome of the public consultation process.

It would not be appropriate and the OPW does not intend to fund further minor or interim works in Clonakilty as the CFRAM Study is now ongoing and in the process of identifying viable options to address the flooding problems in the town.