Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Mr. Patrick O’Donovan, T.D., has announced the approval of Limerick County Council’s application for additional funding under the Office of Public Works’ Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme.
Under the scheme, the Office of Public Works (OPW) has approved funding of €34,962 for the proposed works, in addition to €45,720 already approved, bringing the total funding to €80,682.
Funding will cover finishing the original works of replacing existing concrete pipe culverts with box culverts of a significantly larger cross sectional area, two parapet walls and associated works, and constructing 50m of a linear drainage channel at Bresheen South, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.
The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme was introduced by the Office of Public Works in 2009. Since then, 52 funding applications by Limerick City and County Council have been supported under this scheme.
The purpose of the scheme is to provide funding to Local Authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas. The scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short time frame.
Under the scheme, applications are considered for projects that are estimated to cost not more than €750,000 in each instance. Funding of up to 90% of the cost is available for approved projects. Applications are assessed by the OPW having regard to the specific economic, social and environmental criteria of the scheme, including a cost benefit ratio.
Works that are normally the responsibility of the local authorities will generally not be considered for OPW funding. Where such works would also mitigate the risk of flooding to properties, partial funding may be considered by OPW.
The Local Authorities must be satisfied that the works will not have a significant impact on flood risk elsewhere.
The commencement and progression of any works for which funding is approved is a matter for each Local Authority concerned.