131. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the reason the Water Rock area near Midleton, County Cork was not included in the proposed Midleton flood relief scheme, given that the area has experienced severe flooding in recent times; his plans, if any, to address this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39889/24]

Cork County Council is leading the delivery of the Midleton Flood Relief Scheme Midleton has proven to be one of the most complex schemes with flood risks from four sources; fluvial, tidal, groundwater and pluvial. The preferred option is now identified and, following Storm Babet, an assessment of the scheme design is complete, so that the community can be confident that the designed scheme will meet the standard of protection required by the insurance industry. Work is now ongoing on the environmental assessments that will support planning consent application for the scheme to be made by Cork County Council.

The options to manage the flood risk at Water Rock have formed part of the work on the scheme design for Midleton. While an economically viable option for Water Rock has not been identified, to be included as part of the overall scheme at this time, the scheme’s consultants are currently conducting further investigations into potential flood risk management measures that might provide flood mitigation in the Water Rock area. These investigations are ongoing and subject to review by the Scheme Steering Group.

On 4 October I announced that the OPW was allocating some €5.8m to Cork County Council for the introduction of Individual Property Scheme for those homes and businesses in Midleton and East Cork that flooded during Storm Babet in October 2023. This scheme is open to Water Rock area and the details of the scheme are available on Cork County Councils website. Applications for this scheme close on 11th November 2024.