Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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80. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if persons (details supplied) in County Kerry can be relocated in view of the persistent flooding problem at their home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42864/17]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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On April 11 2017, the Government agreed the administrative arrangements for a Homeowners Voluntary Relocation Scheme for those primary residential properties that flooded during 4 December 2015 to 13 January 13 2016. This is a national scheme of humanitarian assistance, targeting aid at those worst affected properties, for which there are no alternative feasible measures.

The Government decision confirmed that a homeowner had to meet a number of conditions to be eligible for assistance under this scheme, including:

- That floodwater entered and damaged the building during the relevant dates such as to render it uninhabitable.

- That the property was the homeowners primary residence at the time of the floods.

- That the affected property must have a significant probability of the recurrence of the flood depth, duration or frequency on a scale that could cause further serious and similar damage to the home.

- That the property is not due to or may not benefit from a planned or possible future major, minor or individual flood defence scheme.

- That the property may not be protected adequately from being flooded in the future at an economically feasible cost through other flood mitigation works including minor works, individual property protection or other possible measures that can be considered at this time.

- That the homeowner is unable to obtain flood risk insurance.

The OPW are working with each of the Local Authorities, using their extensive and detailed local knowledge, to identify the homes that flooded during the event, and of those identified which properties may not benefit from a known or possible engineering solution. These homeowners will be invited to meet with the OPW to discuss the details of the scheme and may be invited to formally apply for the scheme. It is expected that contact will begin with the identified homeowners in the coming weeks.

In addition to the identification process underway with the local authorities, homeowners also had the opportunity to express an interest directly with the OPW, before 28 July 2017, to be considered under the Scheme. Some 67 expressions of interest were received from homeowners in 19 different local authority areas. The details of these properties has been shared with the local authorities for their consideration in the stage 1 desktop assessment.

The homeowner referred to by the Deputy did not express an interest in the Scheme directly with the OPW. The local authority have identified a property in the area that flooded during the relevant dates but they are currently unable to confirm if it is the same property referred to by the Deputy.