Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Jan 2024

Vol. 1048 No. 5

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Flood Relief Schemes

Deputy Claire Kerrane

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important topic. It is very timely that it be debated here this evening.

Late last summer I met with farmers and representatives from the Save Our Shannon organisation, with which the Minister of State is probably familiar. This was in the midst of devastating summer flooding in the Shannon Callows. Farms from Athlone to Meelick were devastated. Not only do farmers and others living in those areas have to contend with winter flooding, they now have to contend with summer flooding as well. These farmers were left with no grazing and were unable to make hay or silage for feed throughout the winter months. Of course, we know that in some cases and in some years, depending on the weather and conditions, cattle are sometimes indoors until April.

When I, along with party colleagues, met farmers that evening, they were in a really bad way. They spoke of the huge financial pressures they were under. Some were struggling with mortgage repayments. Others were struggling with being able to send their children to college. They were facing financial ruin, but they were also dealing with the severe impact on their mental health and that impact on their families and children.

At that time, the Save Our Shannon organisation and a number of the farmers mounted a very successful campaign for compensation. This was not money for themselves but money to try to buy feed bales that are already at an all-time high price, just to be able to feed their animals through the winter. In many cases, cattle had to be taken off the land earlier than the winter months, so they needed larger quantities of feed for a longer period. They welcomed the announcement that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, made on the establishment of the Shannon Callows flood scheme and the recognition of what they were suffering and the severe financial blow to them.

They welcomed the announcement by the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, in respect of the establishment of the Shannon Callows flood scheme, which recognised the suffering of those farmers and the severe financial blow to them. I welcomed that funding, as did others in the Opposition. However, when the detail of that scheme became known, a number of questions arose. Figures provided by the Department suggested that 230 farmers would receive compensation. At that point, alarm bells went off because it became clear that some farmers would get the compensation and others, who were affected no differently, would not. At that stage, I brought a number of farmers before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to allow them a platform to raise their issues with the compensation scheme. The Minister has yet to move on the issues that have been raised.

I previously raised the cases of farmers with land along the Little Brosna river and those on the River Suck who are equally affected by flooding relating to the River Shannon. They are not being compensated despite being affected in the same way. Why is that the case?

The Save Our Shannon Organisation has been in touch many times with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. On behalf of the farmers in the area, it has been asking the questions that farmers want answered. Those questions include why 15 ha was set as the limit for compensation and how that was decided and if the Minister is aware that the area monitoring system being used to identify land that is flooded excludes many of the farmers whose land is actually flooded. The most recent case I brought to the Department of agriculture related to a farmer who did not receive the offer of compensation when another farmer whose land is separated from his by a drain and was flooded in the same way received a letter offering compensation.

The scheme is clearly not working. It is not assisting the very genuine farmers who have been affected by flooding through no fault of their own. We must remember the real impact that has on farmers and their families. Those impacts are not only financial because there is also a real impact on their mental health. There are flaws in the scheme that need to be sorted out. The Save Our Shannon Organisation has made those flaws known to the Minister many times. We need them to be addressed because we all want the scheme to work, to benefit farmers and to compensate them for the considerable losses they have experienced.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Peter Burke)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is also an issue in my constituency. The Government fully recognises there was exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during late summer last year which prevented some farmers from completing their normal traditional harvesting of silage and hay. This has left affected farmers in a serious situation and required that they purchase fodder to maintain animal health and welfare during the winter months. It is in that context that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, announced a new scheme, the Shannon Callows flood scheme, on 7 November last to support affected farmers in the Shannon Callows.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced funding of €800,000 to assist farmers who have been affected by fodder loss in the Shannon Callows special area of conservation, SAC. While it was necessary for the lands flooded to be within this SAC to be eligible, whether lands were designated as an area of natural constraint, ANC, or not has not been taken into account in the scheme.

The Shannon Callows flood scheme is operated by the direct payments section of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Given the urgent nature of the assistance required, applications issued on 17 November, with payments commencing as soon as the applications were returned by affected farmers. Many farmers were paid by the middle of December. Expressions of interest letters, which included application forms, issued on 17 November to the 230 farmers impacted, as identified by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's earth observation team using the area monitoring data. A further 47 impacted farmers were issued with expressions of interest letters and application forms on 7 December. In returning the application and applying for the scheme, the farmer is declaring that he or she has lost fodder as a result of the exceptional flooding and that he or she has read and understands the terms and conditions of the scheme. As of 19 January, 97%, or 268 of the 277 applications, have been returned, processed and paid €736,398 on a total of 2,266 ha.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s earth observation team used the area monitoring system to identify affected farmers within the Shannon Callows SAC who had grassland parcels claimed on their 2023 basic income support for sustainability application and which were flooded on at least six of the 30 occurrences that the area monitoring system looked at between 2 July 2023 and 29 September 2023. The Department's analysis estimates that approximately 2,500 ha of grassland were impacted by flooding. Some parcels along the River Suck and the Little Brosna river are included within the figure of 2,500 ha. As stated, 2,266 ha have already been processed and paid within the Shannon Callows flood scheme. The payment rate is €325 per hectare and reflects the loss of fodder and also the loss of grazing and aftergrass.

In addition to this new Shannon Callows flood scheme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine paid out approximately €56 million in funding to farmers across the country under the 2022 fodder scheme in response to the Ukrainian crisis. A further €30 million was paid out to farmers under the 2023 fodder scheme in an advance payments issued in December 2022. The Department thereafter paid €19.5 million in balancing payments for the 2023 fodder support scheme in December of last year. Approximately 71,000 farmers were in the 2022 fodder support scheme with approximately 67,000 of them also applying for the 2023 fodder support scheme. Both schemes supported the production of fodder on farms across the country in 2022 and 2023.

Deputy Claire Kerrane

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The first issue I wish to raise relates to the Minister of State's reference to the Shannon Callows SAC. Nowhere on the Government website, where this scheme was announced, along with the details of how to qualify for it and what is required, does the term "SAC" appear. I would like to think that is not an attempt to reduce the amount of compensation to be paid out to farmers whose lands have been flooded and that, all of a sudden, farmers must have lands within the SAC to be eligible. If that is the case, it is deeply regrettable and is a matter I will return to directly with the Minister.

I welcome that a number of farmers have been paid. Of course that is welcome. I have been made aware that a number of farmers for whom 10 ha or more were flooded have only been paid for 3 ha, 4 ha or 5 ha. I would like that to be explained. The Save Our Shannon Organisation has told the Minister many times that the lands of more than 400 farmers have been flooded. The main injustice is in situations where compensation is not available to a farmer whose land has flooded but is available to the farmer next door whose land has also flooded. That should ring alarm bells in the context of the monitoring system that is being used because it is clearly not working.

The wider issue is important. The Minister of State mentioned the position of the Department on the Shannon flood management working group. The intention behind one of the first pieces of legislation I brought forward with colleagues in this House when I was elected in 2020 was to establish one authority to manage and take responsibility for the River Shannon once and for all. While I understand that is not under the direct remit of the Department of agriculture, I ask that the position on the working group is used to progress legislation. Our legislation was debated in November 2020. The Minister said at the time that he would need nine months to do the Government's legislation. That was over three years ago and we are still waiting for it. We need an overall solution. We need to mitigate the flooding. There are clear flaws in the scheme that need to be addressed.

Deputy Peter Burke

I thank the Deputy for taking the time to raise this important issue. As already stated, approximately €736,000 of the €800,000 has been paid out. That shows how seriously the Government has taken this issue. Farmers were paid promptly under the scheme.

I will raise the issues about the SAC that the Deputy put forward to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. The Deputy also raised an issue of one authority. It is an area with which I am familiar. It can be easy to ask for another authority to be set up in the hope it will solve everything. However, this is a pretty complex area. The Government has done a considerable amount of work to protect Athlone town from flooding caused by the River Shannon. That is a multimillion euro project that is approximately 97% complete in my constituency. That is furthering investment in Athlone town as a regional growth centre and underscoring the area's capacity to grow in the future. A wastewater scheme costing more than €100 million will also put us in a very strong position to attract investment into the future.

It is important for farming and agriculture that farmers in the Shannon Callows get intervention swiftly, as those who qualify for the scheme have. I will raise with the Minister the points the Deputy brought to the House this evening.

Heritage Sites

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

Once again, I bring to the attention of the House the situation at Castletown House in Celbridge, County Kildare, a mansion of national and international importance as well as of community importance and that, from an architectural, historical, worldwide and national importance standpoint, is necessary. However, it is beset by a situation caused by a disagreement between the OPW and the adjoining landlord whereby it has not been possible to continue with the facility that existed for the past 15 years where access was gained to the mansion, the car park and the 235-acre environs from the M4. This access facilitated countrywide travellers, of whom thousands have visited the area while thousands are lined up to do so.

Unfortunately, at the moment, everything seems to be in abeyance. Efforts are being made to facilitate visitors to the house, enthusiasts, local community associations and people involved in recreation who have used the facility over the years. Progress has not been forthcoming to the extent required because, to my mind, it cannot be on the basis of the proposed settlement. It is a piecemeal settlement that is not supported by the people of Celbridge because it means opening up to vehicular traffic what is known as Lime Avenue, which is the main entrance to Castletown House and was the entrance when the house was built. It was the appropriate main entrance and access at that time. Unfortunately, matters have changed and we now have a heavily trafficked main street in Celbridge that hosts the main gate into Castletown House. It is, unfortunately, proposed by the OPW that we have an alternative entrance, which is the one off Main Street in Celbridge. That will not, cannot and does not work because it is one of the most heavily trafficked main streets in the country and is growing. Efforts to alleviate the traffic situation are continuing but that is not the total solution.

To my mind, a solution, and I have suggested this to all involved, involves reverting to the situation that prevailed before the Mexican stand-off in early September and to arrange for a temporary procedure whereby access is guaranteed as it was before until such time as an arrangement can be worked out and within a reasonable timeframe - not postponed forever - to ensure access for those who previously had access to Castletown House and supported and still support Castletown House. Local concerns have placed pickets at the gate due to their fears that the situation that prevailed heretofore was no longer feasible by virtue of the OPW saying it had an alternative entrance. We do not have an alternative entrance. The OPW does not have an alternative entrance because the entrance to which it refers is not practical in view of modern traffic volumes in that area.

I ask for a realistic appraisal of the situation whereby, following on from the temporary arrangement, there are serious discussions about what happens next with particular reference to safeguarding access to the property, Castletown House, which is 235 or 237 acres in curtilage. That is the first priority and that is agreed by all the local people concerned.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh)

A Mexican stand-off on Main Street in Celbridge. What is the Minister of State going to do to solve it?

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Peter Burke)

I thank the Deputy for his intervention and his summation of this very important issue in his constituency. In October 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donovan, initiated a working group to progress the reuniting of the historic demesne and access issues to Castletown House and estate. This group includes representatives of the community and all of the political representatives in the area, including Deputy Durkan as a TD for the area. This working group has held three meetings to date to agree the terms of reference. To date, these meetings have focused on staff access. The officials of the OPW have been in ongoing, intensive contact with all members of the local community. They have made themselves available to meet with both representative groups and individual members of the community on an ongoing basis.

The key challenge remains that the OPW does not have vehicular access to Castletown House and estate. Without vehicular access for the OPW staff at Castletown, it will not be possible to welcome school tours, active retirement groups and other visitors to Castletown House in 2024. It is essential to understand that OPW staff have not had vehicular access to their workplace since September 2023. Their union withdrew their members on 25 October 2023 until the OPW could provide a safe working environment or safe access and egress for their members to attend their workplace. A skeleton staff continues to undertake the minimum operations on the site.

The OPW and the staff at Castletown House want to return to normal working arrangements and longer opening hours to welcome visitors both from the local area and beyond. The OPW wants to plan to welcome children for school tours and visitors to guided tours of the house, reopen the café, plan exhibitions and undertake all the biodiversity work Castletown House has become a leader in over recent years. This is not possible with the skeleton staff on site at present. Despite ongoing intensive efforts, it has not been possible to get agreement for the OPW staff to gain access to their workplace.

There is a continuing protest to any OPW vehicular traffic on Lime Avenue. However, it is critical to note that this does not extend to Kildare County Council or Irish Water. As the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, has already shared, it is fully agreed that Lime Avenue is not suitable for the approximately 250,000 cars and one million visitors who came to Castletown House in 2022. The overwhelming majority of visitors to the estate are from the surrounding area. People on guided tours of Castletown House account for less than 1% of visitors. As has been made clear to the local community, the OPW does not have any permission to access Castletown House and estate from the M4 access road. Over recent months, as outlined to both the political representatives and the local community, the lack of access is causing ongoing damage to Castletown House, its collections and to the biodiversity of the estate.

To better understand the views of the local community, the OPW launched a public survey. This survey focuses on gathering information on how people travel to Castletown, what is important to them when they visit and how visitors can be supported to use active travel and public transport. The OPW and the wider community that visits the estate need to engage on this to find sustainable travel solutions. This survey will continue until 6 February and I urge the Deputy and all local political representatives to share it through their social media and constituency offices and to encourage their constituents to have their views recorded.

The OPW is not seeking to bring significant volumes of traffic through the Celbridge Gate and Lime Avenue. The OPW envisages Lime Avenue operating as a pedestrian priority road in line with current practice across numerous OPW sites such as St. Stephen’s Green and Farmleigh. The OPW has made written commitments that the volume of traffic would be approximately 20 vehicles per day for OPW staff and essential contractors. People with a disability would also be facilitated with access as required.

At this time, Castletown House and estate will not be offering car parking for visitors to Castletown. The practical implementation of this new reality and ensuring this does not have negative impacts on the local community within Celbridge is a key area of discussion for the working group. To date, the independent facilitator has convened three meetings and I understand another one is due shortly.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. Having been in that situation myself from time to time, I can assure him that while one welcomes an occasion to address the House on such an issue or any other issue, there are times when one would wish that the chalice might pass.

I am disappointed with the tone of the reply, which is not the creation of the Minister of State. I am very thankful he came to the House and addressed it in such detail but the reply misses the point. The point is that the public representatives are called, and all public representatives have been involved in this and we are all supportive of each other, to use their influence to remove what the OPW sees as a obstacle to the situation in bringing about the restoration of the access that was there previously. It is not. It was caused by the OPW itself when it transpired that the existing access is no longer available so we have to make alternative arrangements.

They were told again that they had an alternative access, when they did not have that alternative access. I have raised this with the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and a series of Ministers. I think the Minister of State is the eleventh who has come into the House in recent times about this issue. I have received great support from all of those involved - the Ministers, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, himself. However, the OPW needs to change its attitude to try to resolve the fundamental issue the local people have. They fully support the preservation of Castletown, the access to Castletown, and the need to preserve for the future the objet d'art housed in the Castletown collection. They understand all that as well as access for recreational purposes. The tone in all communications suggests that the local people are to blame for causing the situation. They are not. The local people are totally and absolutely supportive. I will be pursuing the matter further as opportunities arise, and whether they arise or not. I thank the Minister of State for taking the trouble to relay that reply to the House. I intend to pursue this issue further.

Deputy Peter Burke

I again thank Deputy Durkan for his outline of this serious situation for an important State amenity. I was struck by the figures, the visitations, the traffic and the number of people who use the amenity and see great value in it. I know it is close to the Deputy's heart, and I have heard him raise it a number of times in this House and with Ministers in the current Government. We absolutely have to find a solution to this issue. I understand the Deputy was in discussions with the chairperson of the OPW as well on this issue, and we have to find a resolution. I will relay Deputy Durkan's comments back to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and hopefully a solution can be found. It is an important State amenity that should be treasured and people should be able to see the value and get to experience it, which is so important for their community.

Water Services

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

The Minister of State has so far been on a tour of the country. He has been in the Shannon Callows and he has been in Celbridge. I will bring him to west Waterford and Deputy Buckley will shortly take him across the Cork-Waterford border to east Cork. I will bring him to a number of places in west Waterford, but I will begin with Tallow, County Waterford. There are just over 1,000 people in the town itself. It obviously serves a bigger population than that in the wider hinterland. It is a beautiful old town that used to be on the Waterford to Mallow rail line. Good work is happening there in trying to redevelop a greenway, which I think would be fantastic for the town. It is situated on the River Bride, which flows into the Blackwater, An Abhainn Mhór. It is a beautiful part of the world. As Deputy Buckley will advert to in a moment there has been no shortage of water in west Waterford or east Cork recently. In the case of Tallow, it is water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink in a literal sense. As with so many issues we come across in the House, it arises from the individual making contact with us. An older gentleman contacted me to let me know that he was out of water and out of power. He acknowledges that he is at the end of the line in terms of water pressure. It is a recurring event for him, but for a man of that age to be without water and power for a period of time is not acceptable.

However, when you scratch below the surface you find that it is not an individual instance. There are actually night-time restrictions in place for water in Tallow. All the residents of Tallow are subjected to this shortage. You then speak to the local engineers. The issue is around headroom, as in how much clean drinkable water is being produced. However, more to the point is how much is being lost. It is referred to as unaccounted water by Uisce Éireann. We know it as leakage - huge leakage within the system.

Since there is huge leakage in the system we cannot produce the clean water quickly enough to ensure continuity of supply. If you zoom out again and look across west Waterford you will see it is not a localised problem. There are similar issues in Ballyduff, which again is a small village on the River Blackwater. There are huge headroom issues and it is again down to unaccounted for water. If you move across to Lismore, there is a slightly different issue, where people were taking water from the mountain, which was fine and well, but they have replaced it now with groundwater. That is better in terms of water quality, trihalomethanes, THMs, and so on. However, when they moved from one system to another no reservoir was put in place. That means if there is a power cut, the pump stops and the water supply stops. More than that, as somebody familiar with it described it to me, if you are looking to do any repairs it is like trying to change the light bulb without turning off the light. How are they going to do any sort of repairs, upgrades or expansion of the headroom within that supply? There is no backup, there is no buffer and there is no reservoir.

I am informed that funding has been allocated for Tallow. If funding has been allocated, when will the works begin? That is on the specific instance in Tallow. When we look at the likes of Ballyduff and Lismore with that wider lens, they are on a watercourse but still have headroom issues, which means these towns and villages do not have the opportunity to grow in the way west Waterford deserves.

Deputy Peter Burke

I thank the Deputy for his important Topical Issue. I will first address the water supply issues in west Waterford. As the Deputy will understand, the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. However, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has made inquiries with Uisce Éireann on the issues mentioned, and I have been informed as follows.

Uisce Éireann is aware of the water outages that the communities of west Waterford, in particular those currently experienced in Cappoquin, Lacken and Ballyduff. Outages in all of these areas have been impacted further by leaks caused by the recent cold weather followed by a thaw and milder temperatures. The weather conditions have also impacted other areas of the county and country. I have been assured by Uisce Éireann that it is working tirelessly to restore the supply in these areas and it apologises for the inconvenience caused. The areas of Tallow and Lismore are also experiencing outages. Tallow was under essential night-time restrictions. The restrictions were necessary to allow reservoir levels to recover, and to ensure homes and businesses have a normal daytime supply. The cold spell followed by a thaw has led to an increased level of leakage, further impacting the issue. With demand at or near capacity, water services and leakage detection crews were on the ground working to tackle leaks and to maximise treatment capacity. Uisce Éireann is asking the public for its support to help reduce the overall demand by preventing avoidable loss of water and by conserving water. Water levels will be reviewed and updates provided to the community as necessary.

Uisce Éireann crews identified and repaired a significant leak on the Tallow supply on Tuesday of this week. This repair led to the restrictions being lifted. However crews have identified multiple private side leaks, which will also need to be repaired as soon as possible to bring down the unaccounted for water to a more manageable level, reduce further need for restrictions and increase pressures to elevated customers.

There are two causes of outages in Lismore. Excessive demand due to leakage caused low pressure problems, which led to water outages particularly in high ground areas last week. Uisce Éireann has leakage detection crews working on locating the leaks and repairing them. Lismore does not have any on-site water storage, so any interruption to production has an immediate effect on all customers. When supply is restored, it can take a number of hours to recharge the water mains, especially in elevated areas. Uisce Éireann acknowledges the limitations of existing water treatment plant infrastructure, and is pursuing a permanent solution to address this. This involves an upgrade of the water treatment plant with storage colocated at the same site in Lismore. The proposed plan is included in the assessment, which is currently ongoing. Uisce Éireann cannot provide permanent storage until the ground water investigations have been completed and a new site chosen.

Providing temporary storage is challenging as it may require land purchase and planning permission. However, Uisce Éireann is investigating to see if an alternative temporary solution is available.

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

I thank the Minister of State. I know responsibility lies with Irish Water. However, as we have all experienced, we can make the necessary representations through the Oireachtas liaison channels but sometimes the focus of the Dáil on the issue helps to sharpen attention and that is what I hope to do this evening. The Minister of State did more or less what I did in my initial contribution; he outlined the problem and he identified where the problems are. The people of Lismore, Tallow, Cappoquin and Ballyduff are more interested in knowing when the problem will be fixed because we know what the problem is.

We know that people do not especially like spending money on water infrastructure. First, they have to dig up the place to put the pipes in and people do not much like that. It also causes disruption to their water supply and people do not much like that either. After spending all of the money, they bury it and nobody can see it. However, it has the benefit of allowing these communities to grow. The Minister of State mentioned Athlone in his constituency. What is holding back towns and villages throughout Waterford and across the country is the infrastructure. There are great opportunities for these towns and villages to grow and thrive. We are seeing significant investment in public transport which is helping to connect these towns and villages together in the way that we have not seen before.

Places like Tallow have put in co-working spaces trying to draw jobs back into the community. We have seen really progressive ideas in Lismore, Cappoquin and Villierstown which are giving people opportunities in the communities where they grew up. However, in order to allow these places to thrive, flourish and provide a way of living in our countryside that is in keeping with our environmental concerns and bring people back into our towns and villages supporting our local services through population, we need investment in infrastructure. I would like a timeline to know when exactly that will happen.

Deputy Peter Burke

I commend the Deputy on raising this issue. I agree that Dáil Éireann is the forum to raise infrastructural issues and indeed issues that really impact on people in the Deputy's locality like the elderly gentleman that he referenced in his opening contribution and the effects on his life of having no power and water for a protracted period of time. It is important that Uisce Éireann gets on with its investment programme. From the reply, I note it is assessing the upgrade and the capacity at that location. That is included in the assessment being done in the county. I will relay that and the Deputy's other comments to Uisce Éireann.

He is absolutely right in saying that Dáil Éireann is here to hold the Government to account. Deputies have to hold us to account. We all have to serve our constituents to the best of our ability and water infrastructure is a vital utility in that regard. We have seen what lack of investment in the past has meant for localities in terms of leakage and pressure points where raw sewage has been discharged into freshwater courses and all the work that has to be done to resolve that. We have a significant programme of work. I know Uisce Éireann is getting on with that work. This is absolutely the right place to raise it. I will raise it with the Minister to ensure that the Deputy gets the investment that is needed to rectify those problems in the future.

Flood Risk Management

Deputy Pat Buckley

As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said the Minister of State is really getting the tour of it. Funnily enough I know Lismore, Tallow, Ballynaraha out into Curraglass and on into Conna. My wife is actually a Tallow woman. The Minister of State is really getting the in-depth tour of it and I thank him for being here this evening.

I am raising the 18 October flooding in Midleton and the surrounding areas. Only last weekend a video was streamed on social media - I think it was Facebook - of a family I know. They were really terrified because the river was rising again. The family were just after finishing painting the house after the recent flooding in October. I will not use the language that they used in fear that it was going to be flooded again. I will give credit as I always do. I raised this directly with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, on 19 December because there was debris, trees and other stuff in there. They were down there and they did take it out. There is a flood plain across the road from that place at Moore's Bridge. I believe the height for the overflow of that could be reduced allowing the flood plain to do its job alleviating all that flooding.

We have moved on from 18 October but given the fear last week, on Sunday, 21 January a local newspaper headline read, "Petition urges start to flood relief measures in east Cork". There are over 9,500 signatures on this petition already. The petition is not designed to batter anybody. The newspaper reported:

According to the petition, which has been initiated by the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group, the community in Midleton and surrounding villages [this is where the Minister of State gets the tour] of Dungourney, Castlemartyr, Carrigtwohill, Killeagh, Mogeely, Ladysbridge, and Whitegate in East Cork could not wait any longer for action to put in place interim flood relief measures.

Chairperson of the group, Mona Stromsoe, said... “If this flood happened at night it is almost certain there would have been loss of life. There are several stories of people being rescued from homes and rushing water on the street,” she said. “This constitutes a national emergency, underscoring the imperative for immediate interim measures to safeguard lives in our community.”

That threat to life during the 18 October flood was real and there have been some near fatalities. When the 2015 floods hit, we were told it was a once-in-100-years event. Just eight years later we were hit by a flood which was worse than that. The flood that hit us in October came so fast that it was upon us in minutes with flood water rising in some cases up to 6 feet. I am well aware of the CFRAM study. I am well aware that it is unprecedented. I want to put on the record that it is possible to have five once-in-100-years events in one day. I want to put that on the record because people think it will happen only once in 100 years.

Given the fear of people of east Cork and surrounding areas, they are looking for guarantees and for guidance. I met the chief executive of the municipal district over Christmas. There is not a plan in place if we have such flooding again. I asked who would co-ordinate it. It was left up to volunteers the last time. The emergency services and the Civil Defence were amazing. However, the majority of it was down to volunteers who co-ordinated and everything. Our fear is that we may get another once-in-100-years event between now and March; we just do not know. People want to get some clarity from the Government or a commitment to putting in interim measures in the area. Yes, there will be problems to alleviate it, but we need some protection so that at least people will not have two hours to get out of the house. We need something that is more positive and safer. I ask the Minister of State to give me some clarity on that.

Deputy Peter Burke

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. He is absolutely right about the fear that people feel when they see horrific events like very serious flooding coming towards their property. I know that as I come from a constituency which has suffered extreme levels of flooding in the past.

The catchment flood risk assessment and management programme provided the Government with the evidence to launch a national and proactive programme of 120 additional and new flood relief schemes in 2018. While Midleton was part of this CFRAM programme, major flooding in December 2015 and again in January 2016 were the catalysts to commence work for the design of a flood relief scheme for Midleton ahead of the conclusion of the CFRAM programme.

Cork County Council is leading the design of the scheme and in 2017 appointed engineering and environmental consultants. Designing any flood relief scheme is complex and requires data on the flood sources and their associated risks. Today some 100 schemes are at design and construction stages. Midleton has proven to be one of the most complex schemes. It has flood risks from four sources, fluvial, tidal, groundwater and pluvial. In 2017, data did not exist on all these sources of flooding and monitoring was required over a number of years to allow the flooding mechanism to be understood.

Three public participation days have been held in 2017, 2020 and 2022.

As well as engaging with the local community on the scheme’s progress, these served to gather useful information and assess their views on the preferred option for the Midleton flood relief scheme. The outcome also increased the scope of the analysis and assessments required. The preferred scheme has now been identified with a total project budget of €50 million, three times the estimated budget in 2017. This highlights the scale of the project’s increase in scope. It also highlights that today we have designed a scheme that is robust, supported by strong evidence, has the support of the community and is future-proofed and adaptable to climate change scenarios. The preferred option protects 580 properties against a one-in-100-year flood fluvial event, can give back flood insurance to the town and stands up to scrutiny and-or challenge.

Having invested eight years in arriving at the preferred scheme, an assessment following Storm Babet is under way, so we know we have a scheme that can meet the standard of protection required by the insurance industry. The next major step is to seek planning consent, and work has already begun on the environmental surveys to allow us to start the planning consent process early in 2024.

After Storm Babet, the OPW met with the chief executive and senior officials from Cork County Council and the scheme’s consultants to discuss how the Midleton scheme can be delivered as quickly as possible. While the planning stage for this project is due to commence shortly, Cork County Council is assessing Storm Babet to identify the possibility of advancing any viable interim and targeted works for the town. Identification and ongoing roll-out of interim measures has also been progressed, including removal of trees in the channel at Moore’s Bridge, installation of a water level gauge at Tír Cluain Bridge, with additional gauges to be installed at Lidl Bridge and a pedestrian bridge in the People’s Park in January 2024. The OPW and local authorities do not have the powers to expedite these schemes arising from the damage caused by flooding events, and the delivery of all schemes must meet all of the regulatory and planning requirements. Consideration is being given to the preferred planning route that can deliver these schemes as quickly as possible.

It is not possible to progress all 150 flood relief schemes identified by the flood risk management plans simultaneously due to the constraint of the availability of the professional and specialised engineering skills required to design and construct flood relief schemes. While the prioritised approach to delivering schemes means work is complete or under way to protect some 80% of all at-risk properties nationally, the flood relief project at Castlemartyr is not in the first tranche of projects being progressed nationally. However, the funding for this scheme is available.

Under the OPW flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme, applications by local authorities for localised flood mitigation measures are considered for projects that are estimated to cost not more than €750,000 in each instance. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for approved projects. Applications are assessed by the OPW having regard to the specific economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost-benefit ratio and having regard to the availability of funding for the flood risk management. All details of this scheme are available on the OPW website.

Deputy Pat Buckley

I thank the Minister of State for the response and, as I said, I know about the sensors being installed on the pedestrian bridge, the Lidl Bridge, the People's Park, and so forth, and that the drone survey has been completed. I also know a number of CFRAM studies have been done and there has been some engagement on the removal of that bridge. The reason I want to put this on the record, and I am a realist, is that everybody's story is a tragedy, no matter where it is in the country, so it is to highlight the level of fear people are feeling. Even in the case of my own office, which was not a priority compared with businesses and homes, I will be lucky to have that opened in about two weeks, which shows the damage that was done to places, and I am very lucky.

I am 54, plus a little bit to that, perhaps, and I have never seen flooding like this in my town, but I have seen community spirit rise above it. What they really need is open engagement. The biggest problem we have with anything is there is no two-way flow of information. I know the council, the Government, the OPW, the office of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the local council have been actively working on this. I want to put that on record and recognise it. I am very lucky in that I engage with as many people as I want and I speak very frankly when I am talking to people. I just need to put on the record that there will be a petition coming, and it will probably come to us on the petitions committee, in any event.

I welcome the fact there is money there, the process has moved forward and the Government, the councils and all other stakeholders have identified where the problems or possible problems are. It is not going to happen overnight, but if remedial work can be done, the most important aspect of this being some kind of a state-of-the-art solution - we know the early warning system has been piloted since about 2016 - where we can go back to our constituents and say, God forbid should it ever happen again, they will have five, six, or seven hours to prepare for something, that would a start. We know it will take a long time to solve this problem but I will just keep an eye on it. I thank the Minister of State for the response and it is encouraging it is moving forward.

Deputy Peter Burke

I again thank Deputy Buckley for raising this very important matter on behalf of his community. I outline that the steering group is due to meet again in the next week or so and local elected representatives will be part of that. I assure the Deputy that the funding is in place for the relief scheme. It will be taken from the €1.3 billion that is available for flood risk management measures right throughout the country. It is important that funding is in place, that a very significant amount of data and evidence has been gathered already on the path flows and the pressures of flooding in the area, and if any alternative work can be done or carried out in the meantime to give additional protection, the OPW will certainly take account of that. It is important to keep in contact with all local representatives in the process.