48. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation his response to the finding of the Climate Change Advisory Council, reported on 29 September 2026, that 30 of the 54 major flood relief schemes prioritised eight years ago remain at Stage 1 preliminary design; the specific measures the OPW will take to accelerate their progression to planning and construction; and the expected timeline for these schemes to reach the planning stage. [74771/26]

Since 2018 and with funding from the National Development Plan, the OPW has trebled, to some 100, the number of flood relief schemes at design, planning or construction nationally.

To date, the OPW has invested some €590m in 57 completed flood relief schemes, to protect 13,640 homes and businesses nationwide and provide an economic benefit in damages and losses avoided estimated to be in the region of €2bn.

While the OPW and its delivery partners do not have powers to expedite schemes, all parties continually seek to enhance the delivery model for future flood relief schemes through:

• Proactive engagement with individual Project Steering Groups (comprising the OPW, Local Authorities, and relevant experts);

• Funding 50 staff across the local authority sector that manage the day-to-day delivery of projects;

• A dynamic - not a strictly sequential – approach to project delivery, which avoids delays that may otherwise arise from seasonal windows, e.g. Winter Bird Surveys;

• Working with utility companies in the early stage of a scheme’s design to find opportunities to deliver aspects of a scheme in the most efficient timeline;

• Progressing detailed design while a scheme is going through the planning process.

• Introducing advance works, where feasible, while avoiding project splitting;

• Seeking derogations to avail of extended seasonal windows where possible and progressing in-stream elements of construction;

• Monitoring each scheme's progress against a project programme, aligned with international project-management best practice;

• Close tracking of targets, on an ongoing basis, by the OPW and local authorities for public reporting at defined points in time;

• Piloting a new delivery model for flood relief schemes through four Tranche 2 schemes in counties Kilkenny and Donegal to inform the delivery of future schemes.

In May 2026, I was pleased to announce the revised criteria for the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme. The revisions include the relaxing of some economic criteria, an increase in the upper threshold in funding for projects from €750,000 to €2 million, and an increase in the OPW contribution from 90% to 95% for approved funding above €300,000.

I have also expanded the scheme to provide for interim flood mitigation measures for communities where a major flood relief scheme is planned, but not yet complete. This will facilitate local authorities to introduce interim measures ahead of the completion of a main scheme.

Currently, 29 major flood relief schemes are at development and preliminary design (Stage 1). Of these schemes, 14 are scheduled to be submitted for planning consent by the end of 2027, with the balance anticipated for submission in 2028.