Vol. 568 No. 1
279 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Finance if he will address the concerns of the people of County Meath, whose attention has been drawn to the work carried out to date by the Office of Public Works and Meath County Council in the Dunboyne and Clonee area; and if he will make a statement with regard to progress on the project. [15593/03]
Since the severe flooding from the River Tolka last November, the Office of Public Works has been working closely with the three local authorities concerned – Dublin City Council, Meath County Council and Fingal County Council – to introduce some measures which would lead to a reduction of the risk of flooding from the river. To that end, the consultants, conducting the full study on flooding on the River Tolka, were asked to produce interim reports for each of the local authorities concerned, outlining what measures could be undertaken this year to alleviate flooding in the worst affected areas.
As a result of those interim reports, work has been in progress in the Dublin City Council area since January this year, which the Office of Public Works is undertaking on behalf of the City Council. The Office of Public Works has also carried out emergency works in the Meath area, and the council placed a package of works on public display in April this year, which will be carried out this summer and autumn if approved by Meath councillors. Most of the work will be undertaken by the Office of Public Works on behalf of the council. Discussions have also taken place between officials of Fingal County Council and the Office of Public Works to identify works from the interim report which could be carried out in the Fingal area immediately.
The Office of Public Works will continue to work with all three local authorities to bring the maximum benefit to the whole Tolka catchment from those interim measures. I am sure that the Deputy will be aware that the draft final report of the River Tolka study on the whole catchment will be completed in the next few weeks, which will provide additional information on which further decisions can be made regarding the entire catchment.
