Written answers

Thursday, 24 November 2016

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Flood Risk Management

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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39. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of times the flood management policy interdepartmental co-ordination group and the national CFRAM steering group have met; the decisions made and actioned by these groups; if he will provide an assessment of the current preparations in advance of the flood season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36524/16]

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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The Interdepartmental Flood Policy Coordination Group that I chair was established in 2005 and met on four occasions between March 2006 and September 2009. During this period, many elements of the Outline Implementation Plan for the 2004 Flood Risk Management Policy that involved parties in addition to the OPW were undertaken and/or completed including the publication of Planning guidelines, actions in respect of forecasting and the launch of the website resources , and .

The Group has met eight times since it was reconvened in July 2015. The Group recently presented for consideration and agreement by Government an interim report setting out progress on its work and making appropriate recommendations for consideration by Government at this time. The report has been approved by the Government and is available on the OPW website,

The Government has agreed to key recommendations of the Group to introduce a targeted Voluntary Homeowner Relocation Scheme for those properties worst affected by last Winter’s flooding, to further examine the feasibility of any future once-off targeted scheme for Voluntary Farm Building Relocation and to continue the current strategy for improving the availability of flood insurance cover by prioritising spending on flood relief measures by OPW and relevant local authorities and improving channels of communication between the OPW and the insurance industry.

The National CFRAM Steering Group was formed in May 2009 to provide a forum to promote communication and coordination among key stakeholders in the implementation of the EU 'Floods' Directive, and for these stakeholders to provide their advice, input and knowledge on the overall direction and outputs of the National CFRAM Programme and related ‘Floods’ Directive matters. The Steering Group met on six occasions between May 2009 and November 2010 and the work was informed by the Pilot CFRAM Studies and the policy direction of the Interdepartmental Group.

During this period, the Steering Group provided input into:

- The Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment that provided the process to designate in early 2012 the 300 Areas for Further Assessment for consideration by the CFRAM Programme.

- The preparation of the CFRAM Brief that provided, inter alia, the appointment of engineering consultations through a procurement process and the appropriate governance structures for each of the six study areas.

- The preparation of the Statutory Instrument to transpose the EU 'Floods' Directive.

Robust governance structures were then established for each of the six CFRAM Study areas and these continue to meet on a regular basis. The Steering Group was reconvened in November 2014 when the draft maps were being prepared for public consultation. A further meeting took place in 2016 prior to the consultation on the draft Flood Risk Management Plans. To date, the Steering Group has met on eight occasions and there have been over 250 meetings of the Project-level Steering and Progress Groups. Given the study based governance structures, the OPW, as lead and competent authority for flood risk management in Ireland took responsibility for oversight and co-ordination of the CFRAM programme.

The Flood Risk Management Plans are a major step forward to help Government make informed investment decisions on flood risk management. The Government’s commitment to continue support of flood relief is underlined in the provision of €430 million to Flood Risk Management in the Capital Investment Plan 2016 to 2021.

Since last Winter, the OPW has accelerated its resources to complete major flood defence schemes. This year there is a record of 12 major schemes at construction and a further 23 at design development stage. These include schemes in Bandon, Crossmolina and Claregalway. In addition, the OPW has approved €4.3m to date this year in funding to local authorities for over 80 local flood relief projects under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme. I have written to local authorities to encourage them to use this scheme to address localised flooding issues. It has proven an ideal vehicle to deliver localised flooding solutions in both towns and rural areas. All of these works will help in a very real way to protect against flooding and alleviate worry and hardship for so many more people.

The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government is the lead Government Department for the response to severe weather and flooding. That Department has published a Review Report on the response to the severe flooding that affected many parts of the country during winter 2015-2016. The report examines the preparedness measures in place for such events and the coordination and effectiveness of those responses. The report draws together the learning points from the response activities and sets out a series of recommendations to improve the preparedness and response to future emergencies. Many of these recommendations have been implemented.

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