A Kerry TD says a full flood relief scheme for Listowel needs to be accelerated.
Sinn Féin’s Pa Daly says the Office of Public Works has failed to give a guarantee that the scheme will begin within the next five years.
Plans to develop such a scheme were announced in the wake of flooding in Listowel, Killocrim and Gortnaminch during Storm Bert in November 2024.
One hundred and eleven residential properties were affected– engineering consultants commissioned by Kerry County Council described the scale of the flooding as a likely once-in- a-150-years event.
Deputy Pa Daly raised the issue with the OPW at a meeting of the Oireachtas committee on climate, environment and energy.
Deputy Daly says in addition to a firm date being given for work to start on a full flood relief scheme for Listowel, there also needs to be a comprehensive review of the factors that led to the scale of the flooding on November 23rd, 2024.
He says he’s disappointed that the impact of upstream drainage of rainwater has not been considered.
Emergency works have been carried out in response including on embankments in Listowel Town Park and Killocrim.
Separately, the OPW minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran officially opened the flood relief works at Clieveragh, Listowel last November.
