Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018
65. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the funding available to advance flood relief plans on the R587 Macroom to Dunmanway road at Ardcahan Bridge; whether the necessary works will be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49195/18]
View answerThe R587 is a key access route for west Cork along which traffic passes through Crookstown and Coppeen. There is great concern regarding Ardcahan Bridge, which often floods and results in the road being closed. Action must be taken to improve matters and to prevent flooding from blocking the road. It is not a matter of a quick fix. This is a special area of conservation with wildlife to take into account and there are costs associated with the studies required in that regard. I ask the Minister of State to consider the options to support the local authority on this matter.
I am advised that local flooding issues are a matter, in the first instance, for each local authority to investigate and address and that local authorities may carry out flood mitigation works using their own resources. The OPW operates a minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas. The scheme generally applies to relatively straightforward cases where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short timeframe and which meets the criteria of the scheme.
Flooding caused by the ponding of rainwater or a lack of capacity in surface water drainage systems are the responsibility of the local authority. The local authority is also responsible for funding and carrying out the maintenance, upkeep and improvement of its roads network infrastructure. It is open to Cork County Council to bring forward a proposal under the minor works scheme for viable measures at this location provided the scheme criteria are met. However, no application has been submitted under the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme for this location.
The Minister of State outlined the matter as an issue of ponding and minor works, but the flooding involved is substantial and it happens three or four times each winter resulting in the blocking of a key artery for west Cork. The local authority is working in a special protected area in this case in which there are freshwater pearl mussels, salmon and various other wildlife species of which account must be taken. To carry out studies on that wildlife and to identify the works required involves substantial costs. Cork County Council carried out investigations two years ago and was making inquiries with the OPW regarding the costs of what was identified as a major job. Can those preliminary works be funded? It is about more than just the cost of works such as digging and the removal of gravel; it is also a question of the preparatory work and the costs associated with that. The R587 is a key artery for west Cork coming all the way up through Coppeen and Crookstown and when it closes, it causes great inconvenience, not just for locals but for the wider region.
I am fully aware of the issue but the local authority can apply through the minor works scheme for funding to carry out a study. The Deputy said that nothing has happened two years on, but that is not down to my Department. It is a matter for the local authority to make an application to the scheme. If the criteria are met, it will be funded. It is up to the local authority to do that. There is money available. This year we increased funding for minor works from €2 million to €5 million. While the money is there, it is a question of finding the criteria to set around it. The Deputy is talking about roads infrastructure and I understand that there are different bodies and Departments involved. However, it might be a matter the local authority needs to take up by prioritising a minor works application.
This is not about blaming the Minister of State's Department or the local authority. Studies have been carried out and materials have been put together. The Minister of State says there is funding and a scheme. If the local authority makes an application, I take it the Minister of State will be in a position to fund it. We need to get the relevant work done. It is not about a quick fix and I am not engaged in a blame game. I want to ensure all the doors are open for Cork County Council so that it can get the relevant works needed around Ardcahan Bridge completed as soon as possible. Not only must the wildlife be taken into account, but the complexity of how the flooding happens must also be considered. It comes down the road and out of the river in a number of different ways. There is no quick fix, but if the Minister of State says he has the money, we will have the local authority's report sent into him.
I was clear that the application must meet the criteria in the minor works scheme. If it meets those, the funding is there. However, the criteria must be met. I am one Minister of State who has gone around the country to see flooding at first hand in every constituency, including the Deputy's. I am very much to the forefront in saying that if an application meets the criteria, we will fund it. However, it has to meet them.
