Sean Canney Independent TD has called on Galway County Council and the Office of Public Works to expedite the project and give it the urgent attention that is needed to bring the project to fruition.
The flooding events of the last week in Cork are a grim reminder of the devastation that flooding has caused on so many occasions in South Galway.
“It is incredible that since 2016 when I initiated the scheme as the then Minister for Flood Relief that the scheme as still not reached construction stage.
“I accept that the process is complicated, but this will be of no comfort the families living in fear of being flooded each winter.
There is an issue with a culvert under the motorway and TII must take responsibility and to rectify this issue which is an ongoing for too long, he said
“It is incredible that it takes years to get a project under construction and results in exposing communities to damage to their homes, loss of life, and livestock.
“It will be too late for Ministers coming down with the media to look at flooding after the damage is done when clearly there are solutions which will work if they are put in place now.
“We can see the positive effects of the Dunkellin and Claregalway Flood Relief Schemes which were completed in the last few years, and I am calling on Government to reenergise their commitment to flood relief and cut out all the delays and apply the necessary resources to make the South Galway Scheme a reality in the shortest time possible.
He said this issue was raised at the Loughrea Municipal District meeting in May by several councillors including Cllr Geraldine Donohue who expressed concern about the delays with the project, and subsequently the Minister for Flood Relief Patrick O Donovan TD visited Gort, but the project is still not at construction stage.
“Money is not the problem; it is the burden of bureaucratic nonsense that stifles progress and leave communities vulnerable year in year out,” said Dep Canney.
