Vol. 548 No. 4
133 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 456 of 30 January 2002, he will outline the discussions which may have taken place between Kildare County Council and the Office of Public Works regarding the need for the alleviation of flooding which arose at Maynooth, Leixlip, Celbridge, Naas, Kilcock, Kill, Straffan and Clane, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5263/02]
On 8 February 2002, officials in the Office of Public Works met with representatives from Kildare County Council. They discussed reports received from the council in relation to flooding from the Meadowbrook, Lyreen and Morrell rivers. A limited amount of funding is available this year for flood alleviation in County Kildare, and it was agreed at the meeting that the best way to utilise this funding is to (i) identify a series of minor works that could be carried out immediately to alleviate flooding and (ii) to identify further studies that might be undertaken to help advance comprehensive flood relief schemes for these rivers. With this purpose in mind, further meetings between the Office of Public Works and Kildare County Council have been arranged for later in this month.
