Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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497. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the funding available for coastal erosion both nationally and for County Mayo; the funding which has been made available for Mayo County Council each year for the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22208/16]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The primary objective of Government policy on coastal protection is to ensure that in areas identified as being at greatest risk of damage or loss to economic assets through coastal erosion or flooding, appropriate and sustainable measures are identified by Local Authorities to protect those assets and, where such measures are economically justified on cost benefit grounds and compatible with all required environmental and other statutory requirements, they are implemented subject to the availability of resources.

The Irish Coastal Protection Strategy Study (ICPSS) has surveyed and assessed the coastal erosion risk along the entire national coastline and this information is available to all Local Authorities to enable them to develop appropriate plans and strategies for the sustainable management of the coastline in their counties including the identification, prioritisation and, subject to the availability of resources, the implementation of coastal protection works both of a structural and non-structural nature.

The Local Authorities may carry out coastal protection works using their own resources. If necessary, they may also put forward proposals to the relevant central Government Departments for funding of appropriate measures depending on the infrastructure or assets under threat. The Office of Public Works (OPW) operates the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme, under which applications for funding from local authorities are considered for measures costing not more than €500,000 in each instance. Funding for coastal erosion risk management studies may also be applied for under this scheme. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for projects which meet the eligibility criteria including a requirement that the proposed measures are cost beneficial. Full details are available on the OPW's website at:

In May 2011 Mayo County Council submitted a number of applications for funding under the OPW minor works scheme for coastal erosion measures but these did not satisfy the eligibility criteria under the scheme.

In June 2012 following a review of the eligibility criteria for such cases all local authorities were requested to resubmit coastal applications under the new criteria in order to be eligible for consideration.

Apart for the exceptional situation in relation to storm damage repair works as detailed below, no applications have been received from and no funding has been made available to Mayo County Council for coastal erosion measures in the last five years.

Funding of €4.211 million was approved in 2014/2015 by the OPW for coastal protection repair works in respect of infrastructure damaged during the coastal storms of December 2013 to January, 2014. All this funding has been disbursed to Mayo County Council.