Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
38. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 41 of 11 May 2023, the status of the review of the programme for the Coirib go Cósta flood relief scheme; the status of the revised programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30904/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy question relates to flooding defence works in Galway and the absence of any progress or urgent progress in relation to the matter. Specifically, I seek an update on the status of the review of the programme of the Coirib Go Cósta flood relief scheme and the status of the revised programme. I ask that question because I was on Galway City Council previously and left in 2016. At that point, the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, works were coming to an end. A huge amount of work was carried out by the Office of Public Works, OPW, with hundreds of maps produced. The work started in 2012. I left the council in 2016 and here we are, in 2023, with the programme being revised and reviewed but no works to date.
The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, has asked me to answer his questions relating to the OPW this evening.
In response to the Deputy’s question and previous questions with respect to the status of the Coirib go Cósta project, I am happy to provide an update. As the Deputy is aware, major flood relief schemes involve complex engineering and construction operations that can impact on people's living, built and natural environment and therefore require lengthy planning and decision lead-in times. The process follows a number of stages, from feasibility through procurement and public consultation to construction. It is important that the work is done correctly and achieves its objectives. Detailed technical analysis is required to establish the most appropriate solution, technically and environmentally, from a range of possible mitigation options.
As previously stated, while not complete, early indications from the ongoing hydrological and hydraulic modelling for the scheme indicate that there may be a requirement to provide significantly more defences across the city than was originally anticipated through the CFRAM programme.
Part of stage one, which is project appraisal, for any flood relief scheme is the review and update of design flow and water level data. On the Coirib go Cósta project this review and update, since completion of the western CFRAM study, have resulted in several years of additional flow and water level recordings being utilised, which, together with detailed wave overtopping analysis, has resulted in a potentially significant increase in flood risk to several areas of Galway city. This increase in flood risk is primarily due to higher tidal design levels and an increase in wave overtopping volumes, which has led to larger flood extents and a greater number of properties that are potentially affected.
The process of confirming the scope, though time-consuming and complex, is an important part of the project and, as previously advised, will result in an impact on the scheme's programme. The Deputy should also note that although the programme will be extended, other aspects of the project are continuing to progress. It is expected that these additional flood relief works will be scoped and agreed in the third quarter of 2023 between Galway City Council, the OPW and the scheme consultants and that the revised project programme will then be made available and uploaded to the project website.
I thank the Minister of State, who used the phrase "as previously advised" a few times. As previously advised, I was told it would be ready in the first quarter of this year. As previously advised in response to my next question in May, I was told it would be finished at the end of June. Now the Minister of State has moved it on to another quarter. We are talking about eight areas in Galway and I am going to be parochial because it is my area. The areas in question are Nimmo's Pier, Claddagh Quay, Raven Place, Eglinton Canal, Wolf Tone Bridge, Merchant's Quay, Long Walk in the New Docks, Salthill area 1 and Salthill area 2. Can I have some dates please and a sense of urgency? I realise the complexity of the works. I realise that Galway city is a particularly beautiful city architecturally, as demonstrated by the Eglinton Canal opened in 1852 by Lord Eglinton. I spent 17 years of my life on the local authority. I know the work that went into this. My serious concern is with the failure to make progress. There has been an utter failure and the timeline keeps shifting. Like water spilling, the date keeps shifting and changing.
I appreciate that the Minister of State may not have the details now but it is my understanding that the Crossmolina flood relief scheme is waiting to be signed off in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. All of the environmental reports have been done and, as I understand it, everything else has been done. We are just waiting for it to be signed off. Will the Minister of State let me have an update on that and confirm whether that is actually the case? That is the information I have been receiving for several months now.
I want to join this conversation, if possible. There are various projects, like those described by my colleagues, that were urgently required many years ago. The need was demonstrated many years ago. Particularly in relation to flooding relief, the emphasis now is on re-flooding areas. I would hate to think that in deference to re-flooding, we might put on the back burner those projects that were urgent many years ago and are equally, if not more, urgent now. Progress needs to be visible in the shortest possible time.
In response to Deputy Connolly regarding dates, the only date I have available is that the scoping of the revised works should be agreed in the third quarter of 2023 between Galway City Council, the OPW and the scheme consultants. I am happy to take any additional questions that she wants to refer to me or to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan.
Deputy Conway-Walsh asked whether the Crossmolina flood relief scheme is waiting to be signed off in the Department. I will have to check on the status of that scheme. I am happy to revert to the Deputy on that. If she contacts my office directly, I will be happy to talk to her about it.
Deputy Durkan underlined the importance of making progress with these schemes. Indeed, I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, referring to schemes all over the country that will have specific local effect and are of great importance, all of which are caused by climate change.
I am almost losing the will to live at this point. There are 940 properties in the eight areas I mentioned. The Minister of State asked me if I have any more questions. What is the delay? The consultants were appointed back in 2020. We are into our third year. They were building on the work done by the OPW which began in 2012. I realise that it is a bigger job than originally imagined or planned for, that it is more complex and all of that. We are into our third year after the consultants were appointed and the timelines are shifting all of the time. I am asking how the Minister of State can stand over this. How can he stand over this happening in Galway city, with the dangers that flooding presents? I live in the Claddagh and have seen it flooded. My house was safe, luckily, but many people were not so lucky. That has happened numerous times.
I am also concerned at the sentence that refers to a one-in-100-years event. We are out of all of that kind of talk now in relation to the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Finally, last year or the year before artists erected visual display, with lights, of where the water would go in the Claddagh. Please let me have a more urgent response.
I am advised that the project is delayed due to the review and update of the design flow and water level data. This review, since the completion of the western CFRAM study, resulted in several years of additional flow and water level recordings being used.
Together with detailed wave overtopping analysis, this has resulted in a potentially significant increase in flood risk to several areas of Galway city. In other words, the scope of the original project was not sufficiently broad and the environment changed in the period while it was being analysed. This increase in flood risk is primarily due to higher tidal design levels and an increase in wave overtopping volumes, which has led to larger flood extents and a greater number of properties potentially being affected. The consultant noted an increase in project scope on 9 December 2022. At the time, the hydrological and hydraulic analysis was still ongoing and any redefinition in project scope would have been premature. There were also a number of iterations of modelling outputs which the project team reviewed in detail and it was important to obtain ground truth in respect of these predictions, which is a time-consuming process. It is important to note, however, that the progress of the project has not been affected to date by the redefinition of the project scope.
