Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2016
392. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to set down the status of the schedule of works for a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19544/16]
View answerAs outlined to the Deputy in previous replies to Parliamentary Questions on this subject, the channel in question is part of the River Maine Catchment Drainage Scheme which was carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945. The OPW continues to have a statutory responsibility for the maintenance of this scheme.
Each year the OPW carries out work to approximately 2,000 km of channels and some 200 structures around the country as part of its ongoing and rolling arterial drainage maintenance programme. While the average cycle of maintenance is generally in the range of 4 to 7 years, the OPW does routinely inspect all channels and structures for which it has maintenance responsibility. The timing of work on individual projects is determined having regard to the needs of regular maintenance and the prioritisation of urgent jobs.
In the case of the River Maine Catchment Drainage Scheme, maintenance resources are currently concentrated on works to damaged defences in tidal reaches and it is not possible at this stage to provide a specific timeframe when work will proceed at the location mentioned by the Deputy.
