I could not agree more. As the Deputy said, there is a lot of good and positive stuff happening in County Clare. The Department is working closely with the local authority on the local drainage scheme and it is supported by the Government, which is very important. I am looking closely at the issue the Deputy spoke about. I am looking at vegetation clearing, getting into the rivers and working with the local authorities. I hope to have good news on that in the near future. I have been working closely with local auth…

I could not agree more with the Deputy on insurance. My job is to protect communities up and down the country. My officials and I hope to meet the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, on this. The Government is very much focused on this issue and we understand it. I get it, the same as the Deputy gets it. I get requests to write letters of comfort as well and I wonder what it is all about. My Department has spoken with the Minister of State's Department. We are working closely on this to see if we can deliver something.

The Government has committed to investing a sum of €81 million for the design and implementation of flood relief schemes for County Kerry. Tralee, Kenmare, Abbeydorney and Banna are all in the first tranche of schemes to be progressed, with Dingle, Killarney, Ballylongford, Listowel and Castleisland-Tullig in the second tranche. Engineering and environmental consultants were appointed in quarter 3 2021 to deliver a flood relief scheme for Tralee. Emerging options are scheduled to be identified in quarter 4 2025 and…

As I said, €81 million in investment has been given to Kerry County Council. The Deputy talked about coastal protection. Since 2009, €4.2 million has been given to the minor flood mitigation and coastal protection scheme. This also includes €2.9 million for coastal erosion work. My Department is very much working with the local authority, particularly in Kerry. We know too well the issues people are facing right around the country, not just down in Kerry. I will visit Kerry in the not-too-distant future to look at …

I know too well the problems people face. There is nothing as bad as getting up in the morning or going to bed at night when there is rain or wind. I know too well the suffering, worry and stress this causes whole families and the people around them. The Government is very much committed to delivering schemes. As I said, in the last few years we delivered between €68 million and €74 million. By the end of this year, a total of €93 million will be delivered through schemes. That shows that in the few months of this …

I will ask my line manager if he will organise a helicopter because I have had so many requests today that I will be flying.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I assure him that the OPW and Kerry County Council are committed to progressing short-term flood relief measures for Listowel and Killocrim. Following a flood event in Listowel in November 2024, Kerry County Council engaged consultants to provide a report on the flood event and its findings were presented to the municipal district on 30 April 2025. They are now available to the public. Kerry County Council has discussed the findings of this report with the OPW. The consu…

That is unfair. A report has to be complied with. It has gone to Kerry. In fairness to the council, it is examining it and will come back to us. We are working together. There are no people working apart. Both the council and my officials are working on this. It is not as straightforward as the Senator thinks. Nobody in my Department gave a commitment to move machines to the affected area. They would not because the necessary work has to be carried out first. I told the Senator on the last occasion what happened at…

The local authority and my officials are working together.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue today. I am fully aware that flooding has a significant impact on people, families, businesses and communities. I refer in particular to the widespread flooding caused by Storm Babet in October 2023. To date, the OPW has completed 55 flood relief schemes nationwide. These are providing protection to over 13,500 properties, and an economic benefit to the State in damages and losses avoided estimated to be in the region of €2 billion. The catchment flood risk assess…

As the Deputy knows, I have visited Midleton and know too well the strain that is on the people there and the other groups, particularly in the other areas that have been flooded. No one knows that better than I do. Since my taking up this role, we have gone from five schemes to 13 schemes, with 11 at construction and two more to follow this year. That is a huge jump. The OPW is working with the local authorities. The whole-of-government approach is trying to help people and communities that are suffering greatly. …

We should get phone pouches for the Dáil.

The publication of the internal audit report by the OPW, following the review of projects costing €500,000 and under is welcome. It follows a commitment to learn from the bike shelter project and presents the internal audit findings, control recommendations and management response. The OPW has accepted and is actively implementing all the recommendations within the report. The internal audit report enables us to focus on continuing to strengthen ways of working across the OPW. The OPW takes a structured approach to…

Following the OPW chairman's report on the bike shelter and his appearance before the Oireachtas committee, he was frank in acknowledging the overall cost of delivering the covered bike shelter at Leinster House was unacceptable in the wider context of value for money and value for the taxpayer. Following his commitment to learn from the bike shelter project, the chairman wanted independent assurance on the practice relating to capital projects under €500,000. In addition, he widened the scope of external review to…

I have 100% full confidence in myself as Minister of State and in the OPW. It is a 35-page report with 18 recommendations. Some people criticised the delay regarding the report. That was because I, as Minister of State, wanted to make sure we implemented all the recommendations in the report. We put our hands up. There were mistakes made. We have to improve and we are improving. Based on the final report, I will make sure those recommendations are insisted on and gone through. The OPW and I will work together to en…

There is a long history of flooding in Ballyvourney and Ballymakeera. The Office of Public Works, working in partnership with Cork County Council, is proactively progressing a preferred option for the viable flood relief scheme in Ballyvourney and Ballymakeera that will protect 90 properties from significant risk of flooding. The OPW drafted an options report for a proposed flood relief scheme for the town over an extended period. It includes hydrological analysis, hydraulic modelling and flood mapping. The OPW als…

I am delighted the Deputy mentioned the interim work. Cork County Council commissioned consultants to complete the design of the interim work on flood measures for Ballyvourney and Ballymakeera. The Office of Public Works approved funding of €500,000 to Cork County Council under the OPW minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme for the provision of temporary flood defence measures in the area. The works, which were completed recently, include a sandbag defence structure, increasing the ground level…

All studies to date will enhance the development of the scheme. I cannot give an up-to-date answer to the second part of the Deputy's question but I will visit his neck of the woods. I know he has raised this issue over and over again. I will meet the local authority to try to move this issue on. The interim works are good and help to alleviate some of the problem but the overall project is the delivery of the major scheme. I want to deliver that and I will work with the Deputy and Department closely on it.

The Government is investing a sum of €113 million in flood relief measures completed or under way across counties Kilkenny and Carlow. In 2018, the OPW launched the flood risk management plans. Due to constraints in specialised engineering consultancy services and skills, it is not feasible to concurrently deliver all 150 flood relief schemes identified by the plans. Kilkenny County Council is leading the delivery of flood relief schemes for Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch, Ballyhale, Piltown and Freshford in the first …

It is open to the local authority to apply to the OPW for 90% funding for localised flood mitigation works up to €750,000 through the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme. This money is available through the minor works scheme for which the local authority can apply. I, like Deputy Cleere, am sometimes frustrated by the delay in delivering the scheme, but from when you announce the scheme to delivering it, you are looking at 11 years. While I would love to be able to speed up that process, I a…