Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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256. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of funding he will make available in 2014 to deal with the problem of coastal erosion in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1012/14]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The investigation and addressing of coastal erosion problems are matters for Kerry County Council in the first instance. It is open to the Council to apply for funding to deal with coastal erosion under the Office of Public Work's (OPW) Minor Flood Mitigation Works & Coastal Protection Scheme. Any application received will be assessed under the eligibility criteria, which include a requirement that any measures are cost beneficial, and having regard to the overall availability of funding.

The Office of Public Works wrote on 10^th January to City and County Managers in coastal areas indicating that it will accept applications under its Minor Flood Mitigation Works & Coastal Protection Scheme for funding to assist with repairs to built flood defences and coastal protection structures which have been damaged by the recent storms. This is a once-off measure to reinstate built coastal defences to their pre-storm condition. The specific application form for this entitled Coastal Storm Damage Flooding Questionnaire 2014 is available on OPW's website www.opw.ie under Flood Risk Management. Applications approved under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works & Coastal Protection Scheme will be funded from OPW's overall Flood Risk Management capital allocation, which for 2014 is €44.2m. It is not possible at this point to say how much of the overall capital provision will be allocated for coastal erosion measures in Co. Kerry in 2014.