Recent bouts of heavy rainfall saw the river Barrow burst in Mountmellick and Portarlington, experiencing the worst flooding recorded in the towns within the last five years.

Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley raised the “urgent need for the Mountmellick and Portarlington flood relief schemes to be accelerated in the Dail” and asked the Government to intervene.

“At the weekend, the towns of Portarlington and Mountmellick were flooded again for the umpteenth time," the Portlaoise TD said.

Pictured: Flooding in Portarlington. Photo: Con Murphy

"There are flood relief schemes planned in both towns. These were decided on after the serious flooding in both towns in 2017, which was eight years ago. Work is ongoing, and Laois County Council is playing its part in trying to advance those schemes as quickly as possible," he highlighted.

"However, because of all the different hoops that these schemes have to go through, schemes are taking between 15 and 17 years. I think we can all agree that is too long. It is a ridiculous length of time.

"The Mountmellick scheme has gone to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which is welcome. Hopefully, it can make a decision soon. However, as things stand, the Mountmellick scheme will not be done until 2031 at the earliest. For the Portarlington scheme, we are looking at 2033. That is a crazy situation. A huge number of surveys needs to be done," Deputy Stanley slammed.

The Laois TD raised the story of an elderly couple that saw their house flooded, reported by the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"The surveys need to be done in parallel. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to move on these schemes. I am asking the Taoiseach to take this up with the Department of Public Expenditure and the OPW to try to get these schemes under way. I was with two pensioners last night. Their house was flooded again at the weekend," the Deputy finished.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin acknowledged Deputy Stanley's concerns, and highlighted that flooding schemes require time and consideration.

"I empathise with the Deputy. I fully agree that flooding schemes take an inordinate length of time. We have improved," the Taoiseach said.

"We have resourced An Coimisiún Pleanála and it is now statutorily bound to give timelines for the issuing of decisions. The Minister for Public Expenditure is coming to the Government in the next number of weeks in respect of measures that will accelerate the infrastructure development in the country," he said.

"To me, flood protection is a key infrastructure that is required. Where we have implemented flood relief schemes, they have been very effective. In fact, the report on Storm Amy was that the flood relief schemes, where they have been constructed and built, worked, by and large.

"There is an urgency, but everybody wants to have their say, as the Deputy knows, and we end up in An Coimisiún Pleanála," the Taoiseach finished.

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