Work to alleviate flooding in West Offaly due to start in 2021

Issues relating to flooding in west Offaly were raised in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with the head of the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Deputy Brian Stanley, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, raised the issues recently where he received a commitment from the Chairman of the OPW regarding flood relief works which are due to take place in West Offaly in 2021.

Speaking in the Dáil Deputy Stanley said: “Regarding the works on the Shannon, €7 million was provided for the works roughly in the area of Clonmacnoise down to Lusmagh. I had a response from the OPW recently on this and that is allocated.”

“I spoke to one man yesterday who has two small houses in Shannon Harbour. Both of them have been flooded. Most of his farmland is under water as we speak. When will we see physical works on that area down along through west Offaly on the River Shannon?”

“I am particularly concerned about Shannon Harbour and Banagher. The people in Shannon Harbour have suffered a great deal from being repeatedly flooded. To confirm what Mr. Buckley is saying, physical works - spades in the ground - on the River Shannon in the area from Clonmacnoise to Lusmagh will happen in 2021.”

 In reply, the Chairman of the OPW, Mr. Maurice Buckley, said:

“I do not want to irritate the Chairman by again referring to the assessments that have to be done but that is under way. We are working closely with Waterways Ireland on both of those projects. We certainly hope to get some of the maintenance work started in 2021.

"In the callows regions the Chairman is referring to, I will have to check the exact timescale for that. That is quite significant. It is removing obstacles in the river. There is a balance between navigation and agricultural benefits. It may take a couple of years before that is done but it is on the way.

"In that €7 million programme, it is a combination of maintenance and the improvement in the callows area of the workages.”