Frustrated with lack of progress on north Mayo flood relief scheme
DEPUTY Michael Ring has again raised the urgent need to progress the Crossmolina (River Deel) Flood Relief Scheme with the OPW and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. And he has voiced frustration with the lack of progress being made.
In his response, Minister Donohoe stated: “My department has engaged independent environmental consultants to carry out the relevant environmental assessments as required by EU Directives 2011/92 and 2014/52.
“On the basis of advice received, I have sought supplementary information from the Office of Public Works as provided for under Section 7(4)(b) of the European Union (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Arterial Drainage) Regulations 2019 in order to reach a full, reasoned conclusion on the environmental impacts of the scheme.”
Deputy Ring stated: “I am very annoyed that this scheme has not made more progress by now.
“The River Deel and Crossmolina town have a history of flooding and there is a critical need for a flood defence scheme to protect the community from future flooding events.
“If Crossmolina gets flooded again, I will be holding the OPW and the Department of Public Expenditure fully responsible as this has been ongoing for many years.”
He continued: “The flooding in 2015, which occurred twice, resulted in three main streets in Crossmolina being flooded, with numerous properties damaged in the floods of December 2015.
“The then Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran, visited Crossmolina. We also had visits by more ministers. In fact, with all the visiting ministers in Crossmolina, if they had all brought a shovel with them, the work would be done now.
“I am sick and tired of ministers visiting Crossmolina and nothing happening. Here we are into another winter now, and if Crossmolina gets flooded, I will be holding both the OPW and the Department of Public Expenditure responsible for it.
“I raised this in the Parliamentary Party meeting last week with the two ministers responsible and I will be contacting the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, on this as well.”