Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2026
200. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the status of a potential flood relief scheme for Aughrim, County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9054/26]
View answerThe National Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA), a requirement of the EU ‘Floods’ Directive (2007/60/EC), sets out to identify areas where the risk associated with flooding might be significant. These areas, referred to as Areas of Potentially Significant Flood Risk (APSFRs), are where detailed flood maps must then be prepared and measures developed to manage and reduce this risk where possible. Under the first cycle of implementation of the EU ‘Floods’ Directive, the PFRA was completed in 2012 following public consultation.
To deliver on Ireland’s commitments under the EU 'Floods' Directive, and to establish those communities that are at risk from significant flood events, the Office of Public Works (OPW) completed the largest study of flood risk ever undertaken by the State in 2018: the Catchment-based Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme. The CFRAM Programme studied 80% of Ireland’s primary flood risk and identified solutions that can protect over 95% of that risk. Some 150 new and additional flood relief schemes were identified through this Programme.
The 29 Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) were a key output of CFRAM, identifying proposed flood relief measures nationwide. The Government has committed funding to support the delivery of flood relief schemes under the National Development Plan to 2030 to protect approximately 23,000 properties in communities that are under threat from river and coastal flood risk.
Options to manage the flood risk in the communities designated as APSFRs, and for which the risk was confirmed as being significant through more detailed analysis, were examined under the CFRAM Programme. For some communities, a technically viable flood relief scheme would have been identified, but the economic appraisal of that scheme indicated that a potential scheme was not economically viable (i.e. it had a benefit to cost ratio below one). As the CFRAM Programme was a strategic programme, it was recognised that the estimates of costs and benefits of a scheme were only indicative, and it was considered appropriate to undertake a more detailed examination to review whether a viable scheme could be identified.
Under the third cycle of the National Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (2025), the outcomes of Scheme Viability Reviews (SVRs) carried out for a number of communities were outlined, including Aughrim in County Wicklow. While the review has indicated that a potentially viable scheme is not available, the area has been retained as an APSFR. Alternative measures for managing and reducing the flood risk in the community will be assessed in the preparation of the third cycle of the Flood Risk Management Plans. In conjunction with this, the outcome of the SVR for Aughrim will now be reviewed in the aftermath of the storm Chandra flooding impacts in Aughrim last week.
The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme was introduced by the OPW in 2009. The purpose of the Scheme is to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding or coastal erosion problems within their administrative areas. The Scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short time frame. Applications for funding from local authorities are assessed by the OPW having regard to the specific economic, technical, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost-benefit ratio. An increase in funding supports is to be made available to local authorities under the Scheme, including an increase in the upper Minor Works threshold from €750,000 to €2,000,000, subject to qualifying criteria. The OPW intends to share the revised criteria with local authorities shortly.
