Catherine Connolly
Question:272. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans for a review of the Arterial Drainage Act 1945; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11469/22]
View answerTuesday, 1 March 2022
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The Arterial Drainage Act, 1945 made provision for the drainage and improvement of land through the delivery by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland of arterial drainage schemes, for entire catchments.
Increasing urbanisation led in 1995 to an amendment of the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, that permits the Office of Public Works (OPW) to implement localised flood relief schemes to provide flood protection for cities, towns and villages. The launch of the Flood Risk Management Plans in May 2018, following the largest ever study of flood risk in Ireland, identified that Government investment is feasible to protect 95% of properties assessed to be at risk from significant flooding. The Government has committed €1.3 billion to the delivery of some 150 additional flood relief schemes over the lifetime of the National Development Plan to 2030 to protect approximately 23,000 properties in threatened communities from river and coastal flood risk. The legislative basis for these works includes the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945 and the Arterial Drainage (Amendment) Act, 1995.
There have been a number of further amendments to the Principal Act that provide the statutory framework to ensure work on flood risk management by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland meets the European environmental assessment and other requirements. The most recent amendments were made in 2019 by way of S.I. 472/19, for the purposes of transposing EU Directive 2014/52/EU (Environmental Impact Assessment).
The OPW has a statutory duty to maintain Arterial Drainage Schemes carried out under the Arterial Drainage Acts. These maintenance works are carried out in accordance with relevant legislation, through a range of environmental assessments, including Strategic Environmental Assessments, Appropriate Assessments and Ecological Assessments, supported by widespread stakeholder consultation. Further information on environmental activities and associated environmental assessments and studies are available on the OPW website.
To minimise potential ecological impacts, the OPW undertakes these statutory maintenance works having regard to a set of procedures called “Environmental Guidance: Drainage Maintenance and Construction”. This guidance was developed in consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Inland Fisheries Ireland.
The OPW continually monitors the legislative basis for its overall management of Ireland's flood risk, including working with all statutory bodies and with the European Commission.