The rise in sea level attributed to global warming is estimated to be around 4 millimetres a year. It may appear slow in absolute terms, but it is apparently too fast for Ireland’s flood defences to keep up with.
Dublin City Council announced this week that flood defences to protect 1000 homes in the Dublin suburb of Sandymount will not be in place until 2032. This is despite works being recommended 20 years ago in the wake of severe flooding. Work was meant to start last year but the design has had to be revised to reflect increased wave heights and sea level rises.
Those who struggle to muster much sympathy for the inhabitants of the one of the capital’s leafier suburbs should be aware the problem is widespread. The Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard this week that it was taking an average of 10 to 12 years to deliver flood relief schemes. Members of the committee referred to one delayed scheme in Blackpool, County Cork and another in Crossmolina in County Mayo, where residents have been waiting eight years.
It emerged from the committee that there is a lack of clarity about who is responsible for flood defences. In some cases, it is the local authorities and in others the Office of Public Works. Lurking in the background is the Department of Public Expenditure.
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Putting in place a more streamlined system with clear lines of accountability and targets for delivery would seem a sensible move given that flooding is a problem that is not going to go away as long as global warming continues.
The low priority that seems be attributed to flood defences reflects a wider problem: the disconnect between policy making on the one hand and the reality of climate change on the other.
Public attitudes also must change. Flood relief schemes involve extensive public consultation and are often subject to legal challenges by residents and other parties, adding to the delays.
It is well past time we accepted that global warming has costs and flood defences are one of them