Determined Action Needed to Tackle Flooding – C&ag Report Worrying

Today’s Comptroller and Auditor General report on Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management does not bode well for the Shannon River Basin Management Co-ordination Group, established earlier this year in response to severe flooding on the river, IFA Flood Project Chairman Tom Turley has warned.

The C&AG report found that a group established to oversee the national coordination of flood risk management and flooding response did not meet between 2009 and 2015. The report also found that that a steering group to oversee the national CFRAM programme did not meet during a four year period up to November 2014.

Tom Turley said this level of inaction is unacceptable as urgency is required at a time when flooding incidents are becoming more regular and CFRAM Programme targets have already been missed.

The IFA Flood Project Chairman said the new body set up to oversee the management of the River Shannon was announced at the height of the flooding crisis earlier this year, but it must not be a simple political response. He said the new body must have the power and the impetus to get on with its work to manage the Shannon waterway and take the necessary actions to prevent future flooding.

IFA has called for the establishment of a single body to deal with flood management and river maintenance.