Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 October 2016
317. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the cleaning out of rivers (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29781/16]
View answerThe Office of Public Works (OPW) has maintenance responsibility for those Catchment Drainage Schemes and Flood Relief Schemes completed by the OPW under the Arterial Drainage Acts 1945 and 1995.
Each year the OPW carries out work to approximately 2,000 km of channels and in the region of 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. Immediate attention is being given to flood risk defences that have been breached and that need to be reinforced or in some cases reconstructed.
Local flooding issues are a matter, in the first instance, for each Local Authority to investigate and address, and Kerry County Council may carry out flood mitigation works using its own resources.
The OPW operates a Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme. This administrative Scheme's eligibility criteria, including a requirement that any measures are cost beneficial, are published on the OPW website at http://www.opw.ie. It is open to Kerry County Council to submit a funding application under the Scheme. Any application received will be considered in accordance with the overall availability of resources for flood risk management and the scheme's eligibility criteria, available on the OPW website.
