Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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22. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the current status of flood relief works on the River Suck; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26109/15]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As I advised in responses to previous Questions on this matter, responsibility for maintenance of the River Suck, which is the main tributary of the River Shannon, rests jointly with Galway County Council and Roscommon County Council. The Councils have heretofore discharged their responsibility through the River Suck Joint Drainage District Committee.

The most recent formal report submitted by the Committee to the Office of Public Works (OPW) shows that it expended almost €142,000 in 2011. This expenditure comprised routine maintenance works including the cleaning of drains and river bed, cutting back trees or other obstructions, weed control and, where possible, improving water flow. The OPW has been advised that the Committee has since expended €136,000 in 2012, €149,310 in 2013 and €150,891 in 2014 on further maintenance works.

I am advised that the River Suck Joint Drainage Committee was disbanded with effect from 1st January, 2015 on foot of Ministerial Order by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. However, as I have indicated, the ongoing maintenance of the channel and the funding of that work remains the joint responsibility of Roscommon County Council and Galway County Council.

Since the introduction of its Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme in 2009, the OPW has provided significant funding under the scheme to Galway and Roscommon County Councils to enable them to undertake flood alleviation projects identified by the Councils within the River Suck catchment to address localised flood problems.

To date, nearly €2.1 million has been approved to Galway County Council and over €550,000 to Roscommon County Council for minor flood projects within this catchment. Details of all the projects for which funding has been approved to local authorities under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme are available on the OPW website www.opw.ie.

The OPW's core strategy for addressing flood risk in the River Suck area, as part of the larger River Shannon Basin, is the River Shannon Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Study. The output of this important project will be an integrated plan of specific measures to address, in a comprehensive and sustainable way, the significant flood risk factors in the Shannon Basin. Draft predictive flood maps are currently being produced by engineering consultants undertaking the Shannon CFRAM Study, on behalf of the OPW, in partnership with the relevant local authorities. Public consultation days in relation to the draft flood maps for the study areas were held earlier this year and I am pleased to say that these were generally well attended. National consultation on the flood maps is to take place in late summer/early autumn of this year, following which the flood maps will be finalised.

The next phase in the CFRAM Study will then be the identification of appropriate flood risk management options for each significant risk area, following which Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) are scheduled to be prepared in late 2015/early 2016. The draft FRMPs will then be the subject of public consultation before being finalised. Updates on the study are available on the Study website www.shannoncframstudy.ie.

The FRMPs, when finalised following a public consultation process, will provide the basis for decisions regarding future investment by the State in flood risk management in significant risk areas, including those in the River Suck catchment area. I would therefore strongly urge members of the public and other stakeholders to take part fully in the consultation process.