Flood Relief Schemes

7. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the south Galway flood relief scheme. [73544/26]

The Office of Public Works and Galway County Council are working together on the development of the Gort lowlands flood relief scheme in south Galway. Galway County Council is acting as the lead authority. The Gort lowlands catchment area is a karst landscape that features a combination of river water, groundwater, swallow holes and turloughs. It is internationally unique from an ecological perspective. Due to the complex nature of the area, Trinity College Dublin and Geological Survey Ireland have been contributing to the development of the scheme's design. They are working alongside the engineering and environmental consultants who were procured to develop a viable scheme design. There has been a significant amount of public and stakeholder consultation on the scheme. Galway County Council and the OPW are presenting the emerging preferred option. When completed, this scheme is expected to provide protection to 115 properties, 50 of which are residential and 65 commercial. Environmental assessments are being undertaken for the preferred option, which involves a mechanism to move water through an overflow channel across the turloughs in the area. Assessments have been informed by discussions with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The timeline for the planning consent submission depends on the results of the ongoing environmental survey and the outcome of the National Parks and Wildlife Service engagement. However, it is hoped a submission will be lodged in the third quarter of 2027. Should planning for the scheme be granted, Galway County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland will again engage on the matter of culvert capacity. This matter came to light when the M18 motorway was under construction. Since 2009, the OPW has approved funding of some €314,000 to Galway County Council under the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme for nine projects in the scheme area. I encourage Galway County Council to seek additional funding under the revised minor works scheme I announced in May of this year. This may assist with additional interim measures that could help mitigate the flooding risk in this area.

I have raised the issue of this scheme with the Minister of State on a number of occasions. As he knows, it is a critical scheme to protect communities and homes across south Galway. It has been in the works for a very long time. While I appreciate that it is a very complex scheme, it needs to be delivered because we are now heading into yet another winter with people's homes at risk and left exposed to potential flooding if we experience another severe weather event. That is obviously a huge concern for local people. It causes them a lot of anxiety and worry. The local flood relief committee has been following the progression of the scheme very closely and has been documenting the different steps it has gone through. It has been informed that the possible date for the final public consultation is now the end of March. The Minister of State said we are talking about a planning submission being made in the third quarter of 2027. Is he confident that timeline will be met, because this has been pushed back a number of times and people in the area want certainty?

Working with Galway Council and others, my team is doing its living best to get this scheme delivered. As the Deputy has said, it has been going on for a long time but it is a very technical project. A lot of environmental issues are involved when moving water, particularly from turloughs. A great deal of work is going into delivering this scheme. That can be seen in the number of different bodies involved in bringing the scheme forward. I know that a lot of residents, landowners and other people in the area have been waiting some time for this project. I will work with the Deputy, as I work with everyone in the House, to ensure that we meet the timelines for the delivery of this project because people have been waiting some time. As the Deputy has said, we are going into the winter months. From speaking to people in certain parts of the country, even last night, I know that when they hear about a storm or severe weather, they have sleepless nights. I am fully aware of that. Since coming into office, I have made changes to try to help local authorities with interim measures. Some people have criticised these but we have seen from the work done in Enniscorthy and other places like it that they have been taken on board. I encourage the Deputy and every other representative in the House to look at those measures, which may be a help.

I thank the Minister of State. I do understand but, of course, there is still frustration at the slow pace of the scheme and at the reviews that have now been ongoing for a very long time. I understand that we need to get this scheme right and that it has to be effective in preventing flooding in the area but I am sure the Minister of State also understands the urgency of the matter. He outlined a timeline. It is welcome to have a timeline for the progression of the scheme because we did not have one before, but it needs to be met to reassure the residents of the area that this is going to progress in the near future and that, while it may not be possible to protect their homes this winter or the following winter, that protection will be in place for future winters to ensure that threat is no longer hanging over them. Anything the Minister of State can do to progress this scheme will be very much welcomed by the local community.

As the Deputy has rightly pointed out, there is a timeframe. Since the last time the Deputy raised the issue, we have set a timeframe, which we will all work to meet. However, we are talking about turloughs. The Deputy will probably know the area better than I do, although I have visited the area on two occasions and am well attuned as to what it is like down there. It is very complex. It is not just a river coming at you. The underground water and everything else associated with turloughs also contributes to the problem. As I have said, I will work with the local authority and keep the pressure on to deliver this scheme because I know how important it is. As I have said, there is another mechanism to draw down funding to help people who are in need. I ask the local authority to investigate interim measures to see what we can do to help those people while we wait for the completion of the scheme.