IARNRÓD ÉIREANN is to commission and fund a study to examine options to resolve the serious flooding which closed the Ennis to Limerick railway line for 50 days earlier this year even though the line is not the cause of the flooding.
Meanwhile, the Office of Public Works has confirmed it will not carry out works in the area of Ballycar, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, where the flooding occurred as it was only the railway that was affected and because its resources are committed to other projects.
It is known that the ongoing flooding of the area around the line at Ballycar is resulting from a debris blockage at the point where water from a nearby lake passes underground into a river.
Excess water unable to pass through the channel is causing a wide area to flood.
Rail services between Ennis and Limerick were suspended for seven weeks on February 6th last when the line became submerged in floodwaters.
Rising water completely covered a section of track where at times the water level rose to over a foot above the line.
The track has been raised twice since 1995 and stands more than 2m above ground level.
Water levels in the area have risen by 1½m in recent weeks. However, Iarnród Éireann says it is satisfied there is no imminent danger of the line flooding.
It is feared locally, however, that the rail line and a local road will be submerged again in the near future, possibly before the end of the year.
Iarnród Éireann had previously stated: "As the railway line is not the cause of the flooding, and it affected a much wider area, the OPW will need to develop a flood relief scheme."
However, the OPW has since claimed: "The OPW will not be managing or commissioning a study or any proposed works for the area."
According to the OPW, "resources, both financial and manpower are already fully committed for the foreseeable future to other approved projects in our national priority programme of flood relief schemes.
"Our financial allocation for such works has been further eroded as a result of recent Government announcements in relation to cutbacks and savings in public expenditure."
Iarnród Éireann has now confirmed: "We are progressing with a study, which we are funding, to examine all options to address the problem into the future. However, there is no imminent danger to the line, and we monitor water levels on an ongoing basis."
A local road was also rendered impassable during the flooding, cutting off three houses and leaving residents to park their vehicles a distance from their homes and walk across fields.
Clare County Council has already undertaken to carry out works on this roadway in an effort to prevent it flooding. However,those works have not yet commenced.