merrion street

Minister of State with special responsibility for the OPW Brian Hayes today welcomed the allocation of €45 million by the Government for flood risk management and mitigation.

Speaking this afternoon, the Minister said,

The total allocation of €225 million for capital flood relief measures over the 5-year period of the framework is greater than the total spent on such measures in the past 10 years. This allocation is additional to the related current expenditure provision for maintenance by the OPW of completed arterial drainage schemes and collection of flood flow data, for which €17m has been provided in 2012.

At a time when difficult decisions have to be made in order to adhere to the current severe financial constraints, this very substantial allocation underlines the Government’s recognition of the serious personal and economic impact of flooding and the importance it attaches to addressing the problem.

For more details and a full list of flood relief schemes for 2012, read the full press release here.