Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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324. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures being taken to ensure the recent flooding of businesses and premises in Bandon, County Cork, is not repeated. [23473/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW) is the lead State body for the coordination and implementation of Government policy on the management of flood risk in Ireland.

I understand from the OPW that to address the issue of flooding in Bandon, the Flood Relief Scheme that commenced in 2016 is now nearing completion. The flood relief scheme is mainly a dredged solution and while construction works are not completely finished, the scheme is largely operational since 2019.

Regarding the recent flooding that occurred during storm Francis, I understand that this arose through surcharging on the combined sewer system caused by the heavy rainfall with some 25mm of rainfall reported in the area over a 2 hour period.

In this regard, Irish Water has informed my Department that it is working to upgrade the town’s sewer and storm water drainage capacity. Pending the completion of these works Irish Water are examining the possibility of carrying out further minor works that might assist during any further events, such as additional road gullies.

In addition, each local authority creates a Flood Plan relevant to its local flood risk and response capabilities for when a flooding emergency may occur.

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the resilience shown by the people of Bandon, and other parts of the country that have been impacted by the recent severe weather events, and the great work undertaken to ensure that the town reopened for business as soon as possible.