Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Mar 1996

Vol. 462 No. 5

Written Answers. - Clonmel (Tipperary) Flooding.

Noel Dempsey

Question:

144 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for the Environment the consideration, if any, he will give to an independent inquiry into all the circumstances of the recent serious flooding in Clonmel, County Tipperary, and the consequences which resulted from it; and if so, if funding will be made available for such an inquiry in order that practical steps can be taken to prevent such flooding in the future and to ensure equitable treatment of those who suffered losses as a result. [5054/96]

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin)

The Commissioners of Public Works are responsible for carrying out arterial drainage works for the purposes, inter alia, of preventing or reducing flooding in any catchment, watercourse or part of a watercourse and have powers, under recent amending legislation, to carry out schemes for localised flood relief. In this regard, I refer to the reply of the Minister of State at the Department of Finance to Question No. 136 on 23 January 1996 in regard to the drainage of the River Suir. The Minister of State, who is in charge of the Office of Public Works, also chairs an interdepartmental committee with responsibility for co-ordinating the Government's response to the effects of bad weather, which includes such aspects as the provision of assistance etc., to alleviate hardship.