I wish to ask the Minister about the OPW's delivery of the Midleton flood relief scheme. There is an urgent need to expedite the delivery of this scheme before another disastrous flood event takes place. Will the Government look at trying to speed this up with the OPW and Cork County Council so that we can get works that are urgently required under way? I would highly encourage the use of the Arterial Drainage Act as an effective mechanism for delivering this flood relief scheme in an urgent and proper fashion rather than putting it on to Cork County Council because that will slow down land acquisitions that are required for this scheme.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and acknowledge his work and that of his colleagues in helping the community to recover from the devastation of Storm Babet. It was shocking to see the impact. I know the vast majority of businesses have reopened, which is great to see, but homes were destroyed as well and nobody wants that to happen again. The commitment I can give is that we are open to any way that accelerates the delivery of a new scheme for Midleton that minimises the risk of a future occurrence of this. In addition, because it will take some time, we must make sure that, in the interim, mitigation measures are implemented to minimise the risk of a repeat. I am happy to work with the Deputy, the OPW and Cork County Council to ensure that whatever needs to be done is done to deliver a comprehensive flood relief scheme for Midleton as quickly as possible.