River maintenance responsibilities
Deputy McConalogue said responsibility for maintaining damaged rivers outside OPW-managed channels was stuck in limbo, especially in Donegal after flooding. Minister Eoghan Murphy said work was under way with the OPW on river basin management, additional funding had been provided, and the issue remained under active discussion.
On the responsibility for river maintenance, outside the rivers maintained by the Office of Public Works, OPW, under the arterial drainage Acts, the local authorities and the OPW are facing a limbo where no one has responsibility for maintaining those rivers. It is particularly acute in Donegal where massive damage was done as a result of the flooding in August. Rivers have been very significantly damaged but there is no one to take responsibility for addressing the problem, fixing them or to maintain them in the future. Will the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government tell us what engagement he has had with the Minister of State with responsibility for flooding in the OPW? Action is necessary. What action, if any, does the Minister propose to take to ensure that someone takes responsibility for maintaining these rivers and works with landowners on them, ultimately ensuring that they can be fixed, in the case of Donegal, and maintained on an ongoing basis so that we can protect against the type of massive flood damage that we have experienced on too many occasions recently?
Comment on this
The Department has been doing a lot of work on this area because of its importance not only around flooding but also our responsibility regarding certain EU directives on river basin management plans and river catchment areas. Work is ongoing in the Department to progress that. I am in regular contact with the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW on all these issues as we do share certain areas of responsibility. We are currently discussing how best to manage this. I have provided additional funding to the local offices to do this work and recently spoke to the river trusts conference in Iveagh House which was the first conference it held outside the UK. We discussed other initiatives that can be taken on funding and also support to the groups which manage these different river areas. That work is continuing and I am in constant contact with the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW on this issue in particular.