Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 16 Nov 2000

Vol. 526 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Flood Relief.

Mr. Lawlor:

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to raise this matter. I wish it was not necessary to do so, but what has happened in Lucan is a disgrace. There was a similar occurrence in 1993 when the village of Lucan was under three to five feet of water. Business premises and homes were flooded and it caused serious devastation at the time.

On this occasion, the young residents of the Old Forge and Grange Manor estates, some of whom were only months in their new homes, found their houses under one foot or more of water. There were consequent horror stories about the damage caused to homes and business premises by flooding. Other parts were also most unfortunate, particularly Clonmel, but I wish to outline the annoyance of people in Lucan about why proper action was not taken to prevent the flooding and why, in the intervening years, the council has continued to approve a substantial number of new housing schemes, which are badly needed, with the consequent damage caused.

I raised this issue in 1993 and I did all the usual things a public representative is expected to do. I contacted the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, the Department and the county council. Under its water and sewerage investment programme for 2000 to 2002, the Department allocated £12.5 million to South Dublin County Council. The Minister wrote to me on 2 June 2000 and said that I would be pleased to learn that he had approved contract documents for the River Griffeen catchment management scheme. He continued that this scheme was one element of the development of services for Lucan which was approved under the second tranche of the serviced land initiative at an estimated cost of £12.6 million. He said this scheme would help to control the surface water flows in the catchment and reduce the flood risk, particularly to Lucan village. He concluded that it now remained for South Dublin County Council to proceed to invite tenders for the construction of the scheme.

I understand the reason work did not commence was that the fisheries board had to be consulted and it did not want the work to be done at a particular time of the year. I do not understand why creating flood plains would in any way interfere with the river. Such work would interfere with diverting the river during high rainfall, but I do not understand why flood plains could not have been provided or have been in the process of being created. I call on the Minister to send a competent officer of his Department to South Dublin County Council to find out when and how this work will be carried out. The licensed premises of O'Neill's, Courtney's and Kenny's were badly flooded. The demolition of Kenny's prem ises is under consideration. It is a multimillion pound disaster for these publicans.

It is unacceptable that approvals are forthcoming in such circumstances. As I discussed with the Minister some time ago, the problem is the follow through in terms of action. Are there project managers in the Department who ensure that available funds are spent in an efficient, cost effective and speedy manner? Flood plains, high rainfall and the storage of water in parks is not rocket science. I do not understand the position regarding the twelfth lock, under which the canal and the River Griffeen pass. The council has a major nursery for the parks department there and I do not understand this substantial area could not be used to store 0.5 million gallons of water.

The river continues through Griffeen park and other parkland. I do not understand why a dipped area to divert the river and prevent water congregating in the village of Lucan, sometimes to a depth of four or five feet, cannot be provided. This causes havoc and it will get worse if nothing is done because many more hard surfaces are being created by the continual development of new housing schemes as Lucan is one of Mr. Bacon's solutions to the housing crisis. I ask the Minister to send somebody out to get the work under way to ensure the flooding problems in Lucan do not recur.

Mr. D. Wallace:

I apologise for the unavoidable absence of the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, from the House. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to respond.

Mr. Flanagan:

Is the Minister having his photograph taken somewhere?

Mr. D. Wallace:

The Deputy is good at that himself.

The Department's primary concern is to ensure that, when adverse conditions arise, local authorities are geared to respond promptly and effectively to help offset the worst effects in relation to those aspects for which they have direct responsibility. The Office of Public Works has primary responsibility for devising and implementing flood relief measures.

The local authorities' main role is to activate and lead the emergency response to such situations. All local authorities have major emergency plans which are usually activated when events beyond the normal capabilities of the Garda, local authorities and health services, with little or no warning, cause or threaten death or injury, serious disruption of essential services or damage to property.

The priority of the local authority concerning flooding is to ensure public safety and all initial efforts are, therefore, directed to saving life and preventing injuries. Where possible, the local authorities would also be involved in the protection of property. During the recent floods, local authorities, in co-operation with the gardaí, Civil Defence, Army etc., were involved in evacuating people, sandbagging and closing roads where there was a serious threat to public safety.

South Dublin County Council received its first emergency call arising from the recent flooding at 12.30 p.m. on Sunday, 5 November and the council's drainage work crews were mobilised at 2 p.m. They were later joined by crews from the roads, cleansing and housing departments. They remained on duty throughout most of the period up to the early morning of Tuesday, 7 November. Among the operations carried out were cleaning of river and culvert screens to ease flows, filling and distributing sandbags and freeing blockages throughout the system caused by debris.

In Lucan, flooding occurred in two locations as a result of the River Griffeen breaking its banks early on Monday morning. The areas affected were the village itself and the new housing estates of Old Forge and Grange Manor. The flooding persisted throughout Monday before the river returned to its channel late on Monday evening. A number of business and residential properties were flooded but, fortunately, no large-scale evacuations were necessary. However, in the limited number of cases it was required, South Dublin County Council staff helped to evacuate residents from their homes.

The River Griffeen catchment management scheme is being progressed under my Department's water services investment programme in the context of major development of water services infrastructure in the Lucan area. The scheme includes a range of works, such as storm water retention ponds, surface water sewers and earthen berms to attenuate flows in the river. The Minister approved the contract documents for the scheme last June. While the council is anxious to press ahead with the work urgently, I understand that fisheries concerns and the likelihood of difficulties with earthworks in winter conditions, will mean that they will not be in a position to proceed until spring. However, the work will be finished before the end of the summer and when completed will reduce the potential for flooding and provide an increased level of protection in the area concerned.

Finally, Deputies will be aware that the Government has announced a humanitarian relief scheme to deal with losses caused by the recent flooding not covered by insurance. It is understood that the arrangements to finalise this scheme, which will be managed by the Irish Red Cross Society, are being made by the Office of Public Works.