DONEGAL County Council has been allocated €200,000 through a one-off national funding package to address localised flooding.
The funding is part of €3 million national initiative aimed at removing river conveyance blockages and broadening the scale and scope of the OPW’s Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme announced by the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran.
Welcoming the local allocation, Donegal Minister of State, Charlie McConalogue, said: “Flooding and coastal erosion present constant challenges for our coastal and rural communities across Donegal. This targeted funding will allow Donegal County Council to take immediate, proactive action to clear critical river blockages and improve water flow, significantly reducing the risk of sudden flooding in high-risk areas.”
The OPW Minor Works Scheme has been available since 2009 and is part of the Government’s response to managing flood risk. The purpose of the demand-led 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.
Since its introduction in 2009, €70 million has been approved under the scheme for 930 local authority led projects that are delivering flood mitigation and coastal protection for some 8,000 properties.
“This once-off allocation of €200,000 can be used by Donegal County Council to fund the immediate removal of blockages from locations such as river crossings, bridges or culverts and that are causing a restriction to rivers which pose an immediate risk to flooding of properties,” the Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy commented.
The OPW will be writing to the local authorities with the details of the scheme, and the supporting documentation will be available on the OPW website in the coming days.