Minister Kevin “Boxer” Moran announces the submission of the Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme for Planning Consent

Kevin "Boxer" Moran TD, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) announced today, 28th October 2025, that following OPW approval, Laois County Council is submitting a planning application for the Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme to An Coimisiún Pleanála for planning consent.

Minister Moran said “I am pleased to announce that following OPW approval, Laois County Council is proceeding with a planning application for a flood relief scheme for Mountmellick to provide protection up to the level of a 1 in 100 year flood event and I wish to acknowledge the support from the community in Mountmellick that was valuable to inform the design of a scheme for its town, which will protect some 244 properties including the 90 properties which experienced flooding in 2017.”

Mountmellick experienced severe flooding from the Owenass River and other tributaries of the River Barrow in 2017. In 2019, following the Government’s introduction of Flood Risk Management Plans, Laois County Council with funding from the OPW appointed JBA Consulting and JB Barry and Partners (now Egis) engineering and environmental consultants to design a flood relief scheme for Mountmellick.

The scheme design for Mountmellick comprises continuous flood defences to defend properties from flooding from the Owenass River, Garroon Stream, Pound River and Clontygar River. The flood defences include a series of embankments, flood defence walls, a bridge replacement, culverts and a pumping station installation. These will be readily adaptable to protect against any increased flood risks from climate change.

Today’s announcement is the outcome of very detailed engineering analysis, environmental assessments and engagement with the public on the sources of flooding from Mountmellick’s rivers and the options to protect the town. Today’s announcement follows Laois County Council approval from the OPW to proceed to seek planning consent for the Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme.

Minister Moran concluded by highlighting the Government is investing €50m. in flood risk management across Laois and that Mountmellick is one of three flood relief schemes for the county. A Flood Relief Scheme has already been submitted for planning for Clonaslee, which will protect 74 properties when completed. A flood relief scheme for Portarlington is also being developed and is expected to be submitted for planning in 2026.

The cost of these schemes will be met from the Government’s commitment to managing Ireland’s flood risk through the financial provisions for flood relief measures set out in the National Development Plan. The design of this and all flood relief schemes is future proofed and is adaptable to meet the increasing flood risk from climate change.

In addition to these major schemes, the OPW has approved approximately €0.6m. to Laois County Council under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme for localised flood relief works across 8 other locations in the county.

For all media queries, please contact:

• Barry Nangle, OPW Press Officer, pressoffice@opw.ie

OPW Flood Relief Schemes – Editors Notes

• Flood relief schemes are implemented in five stages. They are large, complex, multiannual projects that face a variety of issues and challenges, many of which are neither predictable nor within the OPW’s control. These can include issues relating to ground conditions, timelines for consultations and planning decisions or a limited capacity within the engineering consultancy market. These challenges impact the timeline for flood relief schemes’ delivery, which can take up to ten years to design, develop and construct.
• The Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme is the most in depth study ever undertaken on flood risk in Ireland. Completed in 2018, the programme studied flood risk for two-thirds of the population against their risk of flooding from rivers and the sea.
• This work underpins the OPW’s approach to designing and constructing flood relief schemes for communities most at-risk and is supported through the National Development Plan.
• Nationally, 56 schemes have been completed to date, which are providing protection to some 13,580 properties, and economic benefit to the State in damages and losses avoided estimated to be in the region of €2 billion.
• A full list of the completed schemes is here.
• Since 2018, the number of flood relief schemes at the design, planning, and construction stage has trebled to some 100 flood relief schemes. This is a result of the NDP investment that has enabled the OPW, in partnership with the local authorities, to progress this work.
• This means that the Government has completed or work is currently underway to protect 80% of properties at risk, based on the CFRAM Programme.
• At all times, the OPW strives to expedite and progress capital flood relief works with the minimum delay within the resources available to it.

A full list of schemes and further information is available on the www.floodinfo.ie website. All major schemes progressed since 2018 have individual websites. These provide relevant scheme information including timelines and budgets to the public.