There has been a trickle of news on flood management (or lack thereof).
The Examiner has an op-ed by Minister Gormley, in which he claims that his only role is to provide money. The Oireachtas report (discussed here) notes institutional failures and a lack of leadership. Hickey reached the same conclusion (see here). Others have noted a lack of progress (here, here, here, here), although there are some positive, private developments (e.g., a flood alert system).
Flood management is one of those areas in which the authorities should take the lead — but different priorities were set.
11 replies on “Floods, repeated”
I don’t think anyone doubts that “the authorities” should take the lead. The question is more about which authorities should do so. And it’s not even as simple a question of “national” or “local”.
@ Richard Tol
Where do you think the failure to provide flood management lies?
@Holbrooks
My thoughts are set out here:
http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2010/07/26/oireachtas-report-on-november-floods/
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/flood-defences-are-far-from-watertight-1959297.html
@Pidge
That’s indeed the problem: There is no clear allocation of responsibilities.
My solution is easy to state: Turn the relevant part of the OPW into the National Flood Management Authority; transfer the flood powers of all state and semi-state bodies to the NFMA; implement through the river basin management authorities.
The problem is simple.
By doing something, responsibility is taken.
If no one does anything, no one “can be blamed”. Thus flood damage gets worse not better, no matter how much warning is given. Some river flows are controlled by the ESB. Insurance companies wish to earn a profit on premiums. Local authorities are unaccountable as are central government.
Just as well that the victims are so jolly and have a really great sense of humour! They must love cold water sloshing around their goods.
Vote everyone out! Vote only for new faces.
@Richard Tol
thank you!
@Richard Tol:
“Turn the relevant part of the OPW into the National Flood Management Authority; transfer the flood powers of all state and semi-state bodies to the NFMA; implement through the river basin management authorities.”
God preserve us from the OPW engineers.
There are features of rivers other than the desirability of keeping them out of people’s houses. For example, they can be scenic, they can carry fish, they can allow people to go rowing or boating. But in Clonmel, the flood relief scheme has resulted in the construction of high walls around the river, with no access below the weirs. At least Carrick-on-Suir has three slipways and several flights of steps, but not Clonmel.
Giving a single body complete power would mean giving the concreters a free hand. Look at what the inland fisheries people have been trying to do in Fermoy and (again) on the Suir. Even as it is, the OPW is not really amenable to any outside influence: it refuses, for example, to carry out its responsibilities as navigation authority for the Maigue.
And, of course, a single body run by engineers will want to maximise the amount of engineering it does, so it will attempt the impossible: the draining of the Shannon.
There is a simpler solution to the problem of flooding: don’t live on flood plains — or in “marshy places” like Corcaigh.
bjg
This is the type of incisive, high-octane response one has come to reliably anticipate from this Minister having observed his cutting-edge supervision to the antics of Dublin Docklands Authority. Never look for accountability with respect to public expenditure. The Minister is merely a financial plumber who works with timber and paper rather than copper and water.
Has he outlawed the provision of planning permission on flood plains and how many have been prosecuted and jailed for planning related crimes? Clearly, if he cannot be bothered nobody else will either.
This is Gormley saying “as Minister for the environment, I don’t get the opportunity to deny responsibility for the important things, like bankrupting the country. But here’s something I can deny responsibility for, and I will not be found wanting.”
@Myles Duffy
Minister Gormley introduced the Planning and Development Act, 2010.
A recent article in the IT by a professor of urban policy and management in Brisbane stated that the Act “seems a major advance, reining in municipal development “control” systems. Hopefully this signals a stronger voice and role for Irish planners.”
In the article linked to by Prof Tol above in the Irish Examiner the minister states that “I brought in guidelines this year to prevent building on areas that are prone to flooding. While I fully accept these new measures will not prevent increased volumes of flood water from reoccurring, it will prevent further development on many de facto floodplains, thus preventing more problems in the future.”
Remarkably little attention has been given to this legislation.
I don’t know where you got the idea that the minister has done little to tackle planning issues and building on floodplains.
@ Myles Duffy
Has he outlawed the provision of planning permission on flood plains and how many have been prosecuted and jailed for planning related crimes? Clearly, if he cannot be bothered nobody else will either.
Given how planning reform so far has been greeted with defections in the FF ranks, I suspect the problem lies elsewhere, perhaps with a certain large party renowned for planning corruption.
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