Minister Moran welcomes flood works at Townspark, Dundalk

Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief, visited Dundalk today (18 June 2019) where he announced approval of funding of €668,571 to Louth County Council under the OPW’s Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection scheme for a project at Townspark, Dundalk, Co Louth. The main works comprise the extension of a drainage pipeline towards Balmer’s bog to mitigate against flood risk in the area.

Speaking today, the Minister said:

“Projects such as this one show my Office’s commitment to providing local authorities with the necessary funding to undertake very important local flood relief works. The Minor Works Scheme has been very successful to date in facilitating the carrying out of a whole range of works and studies by local authorities in all parts of the country. These works underline the OPW’s commitment to addressing and alleviating flood risk."

Minister Moran concluded:

“The success of this Scheme is in the numbers - over 740 applications with a value of over €48 million has been approved for local authorities to protect thousands of homes from flooding since 2009. I am delighted, therefore, to announce this funding for Louth County Council and look forward to when the works are complete so that the community can be assured of this protection from flooding."

ENDS

For further information, please contact Brian Higgins, OPW Press Officer at opwpressoffice@opw.ie

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Notes to the Editor:

Background

The Minor Works Scheme was introduced by the Office of Public Works on an administrative, non-statutory basis in 2009 following the severe flooding that year. The purpose of the scheme is to provide funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised fluvial 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.

Full details are available at www.opw.ie.