Blackpool flood relief delay
Deputy Burke described long delays in advancing Blackpool flood relief after repeated flooding and a judicial review. The Tánaiste said the updated environmental information had been submitted and that he had discussed the matter with the responsible Minister.
Blackpool suffered flooding damage in 2010, 2012 and 2013. It was agreed that a flood relief programme would be put in place. Environmental impact studies were carried out and presented by the Office of Public Works, OPW, to the Department of public expenditure. There was a judicial review in 2021, but the environmental impact study was left on someone's desk for 12 months in the Department of public expenditure, and by the time it came to act on it, it was out of date, so it was back to the drawing board.
A new report has been given to the OPW. My understanding is that the OPW has now sent it on to the Department of public expenditure. I do not want it to be sitting on someone's desk again for 12 months. In this area now people cannot sell property. They can only sell to cash purchasers because no bank will lend to anyone who wants to buy property in this area because they cannot get flood relief insurance. I ask that this project be given priority and that it is not delayed further. It is 12 years on from the decision being taken, and no action has been taken.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this issue and for vocalising very strongly the absolute frustration of his constituents in and around Blackpool. I know this has been going on for an extraordinarily long period of time. The Deputy is of course correct that on 17 April the OPW submitted the final supplementary information and those updated environmental surveys he referenced to the Minister for public expenditure, infrastructure, public service reform and digitalisation as part of the statutory confirmation that needs to take place to progress the scheme to construction.
I spoke with the Minister responsible for the Office of Public Works this morning in this regard. I was going to say he is as eager as Deputy Burke, although I am not sure anyone could be as eager as Deputy Burke, to move this forward and do so quickly. He is almost as eager as Deputy Burke. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to keep in very close contact with the Deputy. It is a statement of fact that all the necessary paperwork is now with the Department of public expenditure and we need to move this forward.