Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the current position in relation to the flood alleviation scheme for Crossmolina, County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20385/21]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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121. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the Crossmolina flood relief scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19669/21]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 121 together.

The River Deel and Crossmolina Town have a long history of flooding. The four most recent flood events in 1989, 2006, and 2015 (twice) resulted in flooding of three main streets in Crossmolina Town. Approximately 120 properties were inundated by flood water during the most extreme of these floods in December 2015. As such, the OPW are aware of the importance of progressing this scheme and are working with their consultants and with Mayo County Council, to deliver a viable scheme.

The proposed flood scheme for the River Deel is a diversion channel upstream of the town with a capacity of 110 cubic metres per second, which will redirect flood waters away from the town, directly to the flood plains of Lough Conn. The scheme will be designed to cater for the 100 year flood event, but can cater for a larger flood event, as the diversion channel has additional capacity. This will safeguard against flooding associated with potential future climate change, which could increase the magnitude of the 100 year flood event - the current design standard for the scheme.

There were some delays to the programme as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, primarily due to the consultants being unable to carry out the final environmental surveys during the nationwide lockdown. Despite these delays, the project team worked effectively to progress all other tasks that could be carried from the safety of their homes, such as desk studies, and the preparation of the suite of documents required to be submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) for Confirmation.

Since the easing of restrictions, the consultants completed the final elements of these environmental surveys, and in Q4 2020, the project team submitted the scheme to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for the Statutory Confirmation process under the Arterial Drainage Acts 1945 and 1995. During this statutory process, stakeholders were afforded a formal and statutory opportunity to provide comments on the environmental element of the works, and subsequently the Department of Public Expenditure procured independent consultants to carry out an assessment of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Natura Impact Statement. The Office of Public Works received comments and requests for supplementary information from DPER this week, in line with the Confirmation Process. The project team for the Crossmolina Flood Relief Scheme project team are now reviewing these queries and will shortly advise the Department as to the likely timescale for preparing and submitting responses.

Subject to a satisfactory conclusion of Department for Public Expenditure and Reform's Consultation and Independent Review, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will give statutory consent to the scheme, allowing the project team to bring the Crossmolina Flood Relief Scheme forward to Construction. It is envisaged that construction of the scheme will take approximately 48 months.

I wish to assure you that providing flood defences to Crossmolina is a priority of the OPW and Mayo County Council.