Vol. 517 No. 2
31 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Finance if he will sanction flood relief works at Roundfort and Bushfield where the insufficient drainage is causing flooding of considerable tracts of land and the flooding of local roadways; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7181/00]
The Roundfort and Bushfield areas are situated in-adjacent to the Hollymount area of County Mayo. The area in question was excluded at design stage from the Corrib-Mask- Robe catchment drainage scheme carried out by the Office of Public Works between 1979 and 1987. There were numerous requests to have this decision reconsidered and in the mid 1980s an extensive investigation into the feasibility of including the area in the scheme was undertaken, which concluded that these requests were neither economically viable nor ecologically acceptable.
The Hollymount area is an area of particular environmental importance and sensitivity and now comprises a number of proposed special areas of conservation, SACs, which would be adversely impacted by drainage-flood relief works. In the circumstances, the Commissioners of Public Works have no proposals to carry out flood relief works in the Roundfort and Bushfield areas.
