The Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, Mr Tom Parlon, has reacted angrily to accusations by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) that he was "directly responsible" for lack of Government expenditure on flood relief schemes in south Galway.
Mr Parlon's department confirmed last week that €2.7 million earmarked for essential flood relief in the area was not going to be spent. The sum was part of 3.1 million sanctioned five years ago for the region, which was extensively flooded in 1995 and again in 2000.
Heavy rainfall just over a week ago also caused flooding in Craughwell and forced temporary closure of the N6 Dublin-Galway road. The chairman of the IFA's Galway sheep committee, Mr Michael Kelly, blamed Mr Parlon for the lack of action in relation to relief measures from the Office of Public Works.
The Minister of State said that Mr Kelly was "well aware" of his efforts, and those of his Government colleagues, in securing a specific allocation of funds for south Galway. Mr Kelly had been a member of the South Galway Steering Committee which was established to examine what work could be carried out, Mr Parlon added.
"A number of proposals put forward were not considered viable from either 'economic and/or environmental' reasons by this committee," the Minister of State added.
A proposal for a relief scheme in Cregaclare, Co Galway, was placed on public exhibition, but objections were received from landowners and residents along the Dunkellin river, he said.
