Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Public Accounts Committee
2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
9:30 am
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source
With all due respect, Mr. Casey referred to the needs and aspirations of the local community but we have been waiting for a decade for a sod to be turned. The consequences of that are now evident from what happened during Storm Babette. It was not the first time Midleton flooded but it was far and away the worst flooding incident that has ever taken place there. I now fear we are going to get caught up in another argument between the OPW and Cork County Council over what is the best way of pursuing this. Is it via the Arterial Drainage Act? Is it through a council-led scheme? I note also the extraordinarily high number of land acquisitions required along the riverbank. It is my understanding that the OPW is arguing against using the Arterial Drainage Act with Cork County Council. Can Mr. Casey explain to me why this is? Does he not accept that not doing so will elongate the process of acquiring acquisitions because of the number of landowners involved? Is this another example of allowing a bunch of cranks to get in the way of the public good? This is about preventing hundreds of homes and businesses from flooding again. Midleton was absolutely devastated. It was a calamity and, as I said, a miracle that nobody died.
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