Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am not sure if Deputy Buckley's colleague is going to turn up.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

He probably will turn up. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, for attending. We are here again to raise issues relating to flooding in Midleton in east Cork. I acknowledge the work that has been done on the rivers and so on and so forth in the Moore's Bridge area. The engagements we have had with some of the Departments and Cork County Council have been exemplary, but I have to note they can only work within limits. We have had a number of meetings. Deputies Stanton, O'Connor and I have met many groups in different areas. The Minister of State is well aware of Gleann Fia in Mogeely. It is a separate section.

We have had late-night meetings on this matter. We appreciate that there are grants available for flood barriers for houses - to go on doors, etc. - but we have learned there is price gouging there already. There are 750 properties, so there is a great deal of money involved. I welcome the grants because we need interim, immediate prevention measures now, because let us be realists-----

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Is the Deputy talking about IPP?

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Yes. Lets be realists about how the long term flood mitigation plan is long term, but I wanted to flag that with the Minister of State because many people are worried they will not have enough money to even pay for those prevention measures. Gleann Fia is slightly different because of the timber-frame structures there. There were suggestions to the effect that the adjacent land be used, and the farmer who owns it had agreed. There was talk about getting an engineer out to try to assess the position. It was also suggested that the land agreed with the farmer would be a holding pot that would divert water away from Gleann Fia. The people there are absolutely terrified. I know for a fact that it is lashing rain down there again this morning. Like other Deputies in the east Cork area, every time I hear of possible localised flooding it raises alarm bells.

I also raise with the Minister of State the possibility of a text alert system. There is one in, I think, Greenland. If there is an earthquake, a volcano erupts or something else happens, every citizen and tourist gets a text. It is just another preventative measure. In Tír Cluain, we had a tragedy a good few years ago. It is about the progress in putting the fence back up there. There was a steel wire fence being put up there. Work in that regard seems to be slow. It is more about reassurance for people because many families are on "lastchance.com". The ones in Gleann Fia are because they got an engineer's report from Germany to say that another flood will make those houses uninhabitable. They are looking for very quick-fix preventative measures. In fairness, the residents have come up with the solution already. It is a temporary one. As I said, it is an agreement with a farmer. I am wondering whether there is any way we can get around the red tape relating to it. We are coming into winter again. With the temporary measure, there is giving out that if the water is held on the land beside the estate and let into the culvert it will have an effect downstream in Castlemartyr and so on, but that water can be let off at any time. It is just an immediate measure to deflect the water away from there.

As I said, the text alert system is a big aspect. We are aware that there have been issues. The OPW has been very constructive. Inland Fisheries Ireland has been very troublesome. We often talk here about common sense, but sometimes bodies seem to not pull together so much as repel each other like two magnets. I spoke to the Minister of State down there. I thank him for the works that have been done already, but it is about the fear as we are coming into winter. Could the issues I have raised be addressed as soon as possible?

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. My colleague Deputy Stanton is here as well. It is a major collective interest for the Deputies in the east Cork area.

I know Deputy O'Connor is involved in the debate as well.

To recap, I visited Midleton after Storm Babet. I am fully aware of the impact that this event and other flooding events in the town and elsewhere in east Cork has had on families, businesses and communities. After my appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, I visited Midleton and east Cork on 24 May. I did a tour of the area with Deputy Stanton and I met Deputy Buckley on my tour as well. I am delighted that I met you at Moore's bridge. I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with elected representatives, local communities and officials from Cork County Council to discuss the flooding problems in the area and the plans to deliver the proposed flood defences and interim works. I met Deputy O'Connor on my visit as well.

I, along with my OPW officials, met with Cork County Council’s chief executive and senior officials on 29 July and 10 September. I discussed a range of issues relating to the delivery of flood relief schemes and interim measures across east Cork, including individual property protection, IPP, for homeowners. I am meeting the council again in the coming days. In fact, I met them earlier this week and I intend to follow up again next week. Decisions will be taken on these items shortly. I am planning on meeting with local communities again shortly to give them an update on progress with these schemes and interim measures.

I have a script and I will go through the key items. A text alert system is something we would like to see Cork County Council taking up. It is something we will work on. There are works under way in Tír Cluain, as the Deputy is aware, but I understand the nervousness of people. In Mogeely - I want to pronounce this correctly - I visited-----

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Gleann Fia.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Gleann Fia. Specific works are being carried out there at the moment in terms of hydrological tests. We want Cork County Council to be in a position to submit a minor works application to us shortly for funding for mitigation works in Mogeely. I hope this will happen.

I will keep going as I want to deal with the interim measures that are ongoing, as I said. There is a substantial amount of work done.

In terms of the main planning consent route for the Midleton flood relief scheme, a lot of consideration is being given to the planning route that delivers this scheme in the most efficient manner, having regard to the risks associated with each of the planning routes. The decision on the planning route will better inform the programme for when planning consent for the scheme may be submitted. I hope to have a decision on that shortly.

Work is ongoing to determine what can be done in terms of advanced works. As the Deputy said, the interim works at Moore's bridge are needed. Work is taking place in Tír Cluain. There has been channel cleaning and vegetation removal at various locations along the Owenacurra and Dungourney rivers, including between the Lidl bridge and the old Cork Road bridge.

Since Storm Babet, the OPW has promoted the adoption of IPP as part of the emergency response for Midleton. When I met the chief executive recently, I discussed the council's planned scheme to roll out IPP to homeowners and businesses that were impacted. The council now has significant work advanced on the delivery of IPP and I expect to approve funding for the scheme for Midleton and east Cork. We are trying to design a scheme that covers all the areas and furthermore, does not include financial demands on the applicants. That scheme is currently being finalised. I hope we will have that fully structured with Cork County Council very shortly and we can fund it.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

A Theachta, your colleague is here now. Go ahead, but it is one and one.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is no bother. I thank the Minister of State for his response and there is a lot of work in it. He has mentioned that he is meeting with Cork County Council again, and I welcome that. Reference has been made to the Owenacurra and Dungourney rivers, the Lidl bridge and the old Cork Road bridge. Deputy O'Connor and Deputy Stanton will be aware that years ago we used to dredge the slob, as we used to call it, in Ballinacurra. That used to be dredged at the mouth of where the Dungourney and Owenacurra rivers meet before they enter the sea. That is a massive opportunity for the collection and dispersion of water instead of it going down the road. I thank the Minister of State for his response on this and I will follow it up. As I said, we are working together on this and not playing politics so I thank him.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Deputy might follow up on the last item he brought up in an email to me so I can follow up with my officials in the OPW and Cork County Council.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate that.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I want to add to the comments that have been made by Deputy Buckley in relation to the ongoing works. I want to acknowledge the assistance of the Minister of State and his Department. It has been very helpful to all three Dáil colleagues who are here with us in the Chamber: myself, Deputy Stanton and Deputy Buckley. In the limited time I have, I want to raise the need to progress the other areas that were put forward during Storm Babet as having a high risk of flooding. In particular, we need to see schemes progressing in Castlemartyr and Mogeely. I am also conscious of Ladysbridge, Cloyne and Rathcormack. We need to see further work being done to prevent flooding in those locations in the future, particularly in the case of Rathcormack and Castlemartyr. We know there are schemes in tranche 2 of the Department's catchment flood risk assessment and management programme, CFRAM, protocol and I want to see if there is anything we can do, as Oireachtas Members for the constituency of Cork East, to speed that up.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

How much time do I have?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

You have two minutes. You can have a tiny bit of leniency because there are only three topics.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I appreciate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's indulgence. I ask Deputy Buckley to send me an email on the last particular point he made so I can follow up to see if there are possibilities there. Deputy O'Connor can go through the script but on the particular issues, I approved €155,000 on 17 September to deliver flood mitigation works in Castlemartyr and Killeagh. This was made available from the OPW's minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme that provides local authorities with 90% of the funding. In Castlemartyr, €81,844 was allocated for works including lowering the embankment at specific locations, cleaning the Kiltha River, removing overhanging trees and dredging the river from the factory bridge to the N25 bridge. The €73,125 funding for Killeagh provides for tree cutting, the removal of overhanging trees and branches and the removal of vegetation downstream of the N25.

In relation to his point on Rathcormack, I understand that Cork County Council is actively engaging with the local community to progress a number of flood mitigation works including surface water road drainage, embankment words, road improvement works and the cleaning of the old village river channel. The council is also expecting to submit to the OPW, in the coming weeks, an application for funding for mitigation measures in Mogeely.

To go back to the point the Deputy raised in terms of tranche 2 versus tranche 1, it is a point Deputy O'Connor has been very consistent on. Obviously, in my role as Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, in the context of Midleton and the surrounding areas, I want to get the main scheme rolled out. I want to get the IPP scheme up and running. I want to get the advanced works built in. There has been significant progress in recent times by Cork County Council on the interim measures and I think that is acknowledged. In terms of progressing the scheme, I want the IPP to cover all the areas. The issue on tranche 2 is coming out of the CFRAM studies, as the Deputy is well aware, so there is a technical basis for the decision. A former Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW is in the Chamber, Deputy Canney, who will be very familiar with it.

For me, it is a twofold issue. How do we address the immediate needs of places like Castlemartyr, Mogeely, Rathcormack, Ladysbridge and Midleton? The other issue in terms of tranche 2 is a further issue that I will look at. We have done a considerable amount of work in Midleton and I want to thank Cork County Council and particularly, I want to thank the Deputies. I thank Deputy O'Connor, Deputy Stanton, Deputy Buckley and all the public representatives on the ground for their assistance in progressing the measures that are here. I know from being down there how difficult it has been for the people throughout all the areas and I hope the interim works are bringing some bit of security. We hope to roll out the IPP scheme shortly, and the main scheme as well.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That was not a precedent. It was just an exception.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is occasionally good to be regarded as the exception.