The Office of Public Works had a plan that would have saved residents in Bettystown and Mornington dealing with the recent catastrophic flooding in the area but it was sitting idle for five years, Labour TD Ged Nash has been informed.
From correspondence with the OPW, Deputy Ged Nash has learned that in 2018, flood risk management plans identified a scheme to include hard defences and embankments in the Mornington area that would have reduced flooding risk to numerous local properties, but little or nothing concrete was done.
“I’m shocked to discover from the OPW that a plan has been in place to reduce flooding risk for residents in the area for five years, and none of the measures recommended have been put in place” Deputy Nash said.
“The OPW tells me they have been “engaging” on progressing the 2018 flood relief scheme in Mornington but the reality is that nothing practical has been done on the ground.
“Residents in the area have had their lives turned upside down by these summer floods and are dealing with the dire consequences of five years of inaction, as we speak.”
The local Labour TD said: “I do welcome an apparent new sense of urgency in the OPW to now implement both short-term and long-term measures to avoid a repeat of this catastrophic flooding event.”
“The OPW informs me that the recent flooding event which combined extreme summer rainfall and a high spring tide, has provided new data that will be taken into account in designing a new scheme for the area.
“I am told that a meeting was held on August 9, 2023 between the OPW, Meath County Council and engineering consultants, RPS where RPS were asked to investigate the cause of the flooding event that took place between August 5 and August 8.
“The consultants have been tasked with recommending short-term measures to manage flood risk in the area and a longer-term design for a new flood relief scheme in the area.”
East Meath Labour Councillor Elaine McGinty added: “I understand that the OPW and Meath County Council will establish a senior level group to oversee the project’s delivery.
“It is reassuring that funding for the project is in place and I hope that will help move things along quickly, because these residents need a solution and they need it fast.
“I spoke to many affected local residents and I was in the area at the weekend and on Monday. It was heartbreaking to witness the devastation experienced by locals and I welcome the efforts made by Meath County Council and Department of Social Protection in the relief and support response.”
Deputy Nash concluded: “I welcome these latest moves by the OPW and the council to finally address this dire situation, but this work must not result in another plan that sits on the shelf for another five years while residents endure more devastating floods.
“It is time to act now and give these long-suffering residents the security in their own homes that they deserve.”
