An independent TD has called on Roscommon County Council to ask the Office of Public Works (OPW) to attempt to progress flood relief works at Lough Funshinagh.
Michael Fitzmaurice said that €2 million has already been spent by the OPW on attempting to drain water from the flooded turlough.
In March, Roscommon County Council consented to a High Court order quashing its decision to grant permission for the controversial flood relief scheme.
Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) had legally challenged the works, which involved a 3km pipe and pump to lower the water levels at Lough Funshinagh, on the basis that the necessary assessments had not been properly done.
The group said that its “primary concern was for the welfare of the residents affected by the local authority’s failure to properly assess the impact of the works on both Lough Funshinagh and the residents of the townlands below the exit pipe”.
“Roscommon County Council seem to be at the end of their tether on this. I think they should hand it over or ask the OPW to directly put in whatever reports or planning is required to comply with these court rulings to make sure this job can proceed,” Deputy Fitzmaurice said.
The Roscommon-Galway TD said that people’s homes and lands have been flooded with the water only dropping by around one foot from peak levels.
“We cannot leave an abandoned job. We cannot leave abandoned people. We have to get this finished. Every morning they have to look at the weather and see if the water rising or not. The fear of God is in them.
“We’re heading into summer and they might get a bit of reprieve. But we’re heading back into winter in six months time. Nobody should have to live in the circumstances that those people are living in,” Fitzmaurice continued.
“It can be resolved but because of bureaucracy, environmental law and court rulings it’s preventing these people from a bit of common sense.
“I think the OPW minister [Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Patrick O’Donovan] has to get involved in relation to instructing his people to basically take the bull by the horns and get on with whatever paperwork is required,” he stated.
The TD believes that the only solution to the excess water is to install a sluice valve along with a pipe to meet the River Shannon.
“If this isn’t done, it is like a basin – it will fill up higher. This pipe is a necessity for everyone in that area to help them,” Fitzmaurice said.
Following the court ruling, Roscommon County Council said that it had “left no stone unturned trying to find a mechanism to deliver urgent emergency relief that would ensure families could stay in their homes”.
“Friends of the Irish Environment have questioned every decision in court, and can be expected to continue to do so,” the local authority stated.