merrion street

Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), was in Clonakilty today (16 July 2013) to launch the public exhibition stage of the Clonakilty Draft Flood Maps and Preferred Flood Risk Management Options.

Speaking in Clonakilty this afternoon, Minister Hayes said: “We have all watched with alarm the flooding events here in Clonkilty, most recently in June 2012. Therefore I am pleased to be here today to launch the public consultation stage of the potentially viable options to alleviate that risk of flooding. My office, the OPW, in conjunction with the consultants Mott McDonald has engaged with all stakeholders and are here today to facilitate feedback from the public on the options presented. I urge all interested parties to fully engage with this process, to ensure that we can put measures in place to reduce the risk of future flood events.”

The Minister concluded: “The OPW has already approved €350,000 under its Minor Flood Mitigation Works Scheme for channel capacity improvement works, but the ambitious plans presented here today will go much further to alleviate future risk. This commitment is part of the annual capital funding provision of €45m, which I announced last year, and demonstrates yet again this Government’s and OPW’s commitment to a sustained capital programme to improve the level of flood risk protection for homes, businesses and infrastructure as we all recognise the serious personal and economic impact of flooding.”