The possibility that it could be 10 years before an effective alert system for local flooding is in place will be of grave concern to people living in or near vulnerable areas. The Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts was told by the Office of Public Works this week that a realistic timetable to get to the stage where local warnings could be issued by the national flood warning centre established by Met Éireann in 2024 was five to ten years. The idea was first mooted in 2016.
No timeline exists for the introduction of the next phase, which envisions local flooding alerts sent by text to people’s phones. There is no budget or plan, the committee was told, meaning the prediction that it could take 5 to 10 years is little more than informed guesswork. There is clearly a problem with the ownership of the project. Responsibility for flood warning and abatement is split between three Government departments, various agencies and the local authorities.
The Department of Defence has responsibility for emergency planning. The OPW – which is part of the Department of Public Expenditure – is responsible for flood defences. Met Éireann has responsibility for weather forecasting and comes under the Department of Housing and Local Government, which oversees the local authorities that would play a crucial role in any system because on their knowledge of local conditions.
No department - and by extension no Minister – seems willing to take the lead on the project. Their hesitancy is understandable. They are unlikely to get much in the way of thanks when the system functions as planned. Damage will be done. People will just know it is coming. They will also serve as a lightning rod when the system fails; either by not warning of a flood, or for warning of a flood that does not transpire.
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Given the consequence of inaction – Eowyn, the most recent severe storm caused over €340 million of damage – and the prudent presumption that such events are increasing in frequency, it is imperative that responsibility for driving the early warning system is assigned at Cabinet level.
