Construction BUSINESS

The Government has launched a ten-year programme of €1 billion in investment in flood relief measures including a first tranche of €257 million in funding for 50 new flood relief schemes to proceed to detailed design and construction. The Flood Risk Management Plans allow the Government to build on significant investment on flood defence schemes, since 1995, which has delivered 42 major flood relief schemes around the country.

“These schemes successfully provide protection to 9,500 properties and the economic benefit to the State in damage and losses avoided are estimated at €1.9 billion. There are currently also 9 major schemes under construction and a further 24 at design/development which together will provide protection to a further 12,000 properties,” said Minister of State for the Office of Public Works & Flood Relief, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD.

Through the Office of Public Works’ (OPW) Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme, detailed engineering analysis, assessment and extensive public consultation have been undertaken for those 300 identified communities, including 90 coastal areas, that in 2012 were, at that time, considered most likely to be impacted by future flooding. The CFRAM Programme studied 80% of properties at risk from our primary cause of flooding in communities that house almost two thirds of our population. While the Programme assessed flood risk in all our large urban areas, approximately one quarter of communities assessed had populations of less than 500 people and half had less than 2,000 people.

The Minister continued: “Progressing these initial 50 new flood relief schemes, together with those 75 schemes already complete and underway, will protect 80% of the 34,500 properties assessed at having a 1% chance of experiencing a significant flood event in any year (1 in 100 year flood event). Evidence from the CFRAM Programme has pointed to the feasibility for Government to invest in a total of 118 flood relief schemes over the coming decade which will provide protection to 95% of those properties assessed to be at significant flood risk. While work on all of these has started through the CFRAM Programme, progressing 50 of these schemes to detailed design is being expedited by procurement frameworks that have been put in place and, overall, means we are tackling the greatest risk nationally.”

As part of the announcement, the Minister is making €14 million available to 19 local authorities to lead on delivery of 31 of these schemes, each estimated to cost less than €1 million.

The OPW and local authorities will continue to work together and utilise their combined capacity to progress the schemes through detailed design and construction during the ten-year Programme.

The details of the flood risk and proposed feasible measures for each of the 300 studied communities is set out in 29 Flood Risk Management Plans, one for each river basin, that have been recently approved by Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD.

A new website, www.floodinfo.ie has been launched where visitors can view the community risk and measures in place, underway and now proposed to tackle flood risk in these 300 areas, and nationally. This map and plan viewer website is intended to be another important resource, to support planning, emergency response planning, and to empower people and communities to plan and respond to flood risk.