Minister Moran Announces Details of €3 Million Funding to Remove River Conveyance Blockages and Details of Changes to the Minor Works Scheme to Broaden the Scale and Scope of Addressing Localised Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk

Mr. Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), today, 25th May 2026, announced he is allocating a once-off €3m to local authorities towards removal of river conveyance blockages and the extension of the scope and scale of the OPW’s Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme (the Minor Works Scheme).

The OPW Minor Works Scheme has been available since 2009, and is part of the Government’s response to managing flood risk. The purpose of the demand-led Scheme is to provide funding to Local Authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works, or studies to address localised flooding and coastal protection problems within their administrative areas.

Since its introduction in 2009, some €70 million has been approved under the Scheme for 930 local authority led projects that are delivering flood mitigation and coastal protection for some 8,000 properties.

Minister Moran said: “I am pleased to announce that the details of the revised criteria for the Minor Works Scheme are now available and will greatly increase the scope of the scheme and provides local authorities with a greater opportunity to address localised flood and coastal erosion risk within their administrative areas”. The revisions include an increase in the upper threshold in funding for projects from €750,000 to €2m and an increase in the OPW contribution from 90% to 95% for the balance of approved funding above €300,000. Further revisions include the relaxing of some economic criteria which lowers the required threshold for viable solutions.

The Minister highlighted that in the past few years the OPW has trebled the number of major flood relief schemes at design and construction; and that it takes many years to deliver a major flood relief scheme. Following Storm Chandra, the Minister met with certain local authorities and allocated €6.6m in funding for interim measures to mitigate flood risk in those communities that were impacted by that event.

The Minister said: “I have taken the lessons learned from Strom Chandra and other storms, and today I am announcing that this revised Minor Works Scheme is being expanded to further provide for interim flood mitigation measures for communities where a major flood relief scheme is planned, but not complete. I am confident that by availing of this scheme and introducing interim measures, local authorities will be able to reduce the impact of any significant flood event on the local community until the full protection required is provided through a completed scheme. The revisions to the Scheme will also better support local authorities in dealing with coastal erosion problems that are impacting communities”.

Blockages of river conveyancing are a common source of flooding to properties. While the revised Minor Works Scheme can provide funding to address these restrictions, the Minister today announced the details of the allocation of €3 million in funding to local authorities to expedite their efforts to remove river conveyance blockages. This once-off allocation can be used to fund the immediate removal of blockages from locations such as river crossings, bridges or culverts and that are causing a restriction to rivers which pose an immediate risk to flooding of properties.

Minister Moran concluded: "The improvements to the Minor Works Scheme, in addition to the €3 million in funding will support the essential work undertaken by Local Authorities to address localised flooding and coastal erosion problems. I encourage Local Authorities to avail of both initiatives and today’s announcement is a further demonstration of how this Government remains committed to supporting Local Authorities to manage the flood and coastal erosion risks in their areas”.

The OPW will be writing to the local authorities today with the details and the supporting documentation will be available on the OPW website in the coming days.

For further information or to speak to a spokesperson please contact pressoffice@opw.ie

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NOTES:

Funding Support to Remove River Conveyance Blockages.

On 21 August 2025, Mr. Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD, announced that he was introducing a €3m fund to support local authorities to remove river blockages that are a source of restriction to conveyance, and are causing an increase in flood risk to properties. This is a once-off fund and is without precedent.

• The calculation of each Local Authority’s funding amount employed a combination of factors and included, the relevant Local Authority’s administrative area, population and length of river channels.
• The allocated amount represents up to 90% contribution by the OPW to the overall funding amount required for river conveyance restrictions that have been identified by the relevant Local Authority.

Funding Amounts for each Local Authority

LOCAL AUTHORITY - AMOUNT (€)

Galway City Council €50,000

Longford County Council €50,000

Carlow County Council €50,000

Monaghan County Council €50,000

Louth County Council €50,000

Leitrim County Council €50,000

Cork City Council €50,000

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council €50,000

Laois County Council €60,000

Westmeath County Council €60,000

Offaly County Council €60,000

Sligo County Council €70,000

Cavan County Council €70,000

Kilkenny County Council €70,000

Roscommon County Council €70,000

South Dublin County Council €70,000

Waterford City And County Council €70,000

Fingal County Council €90,000

Wicklow County Council €90,000

Kildare County Council €90,000

Wexford County Council €100,000

Meath County Council €110,000

Clare County Council €110,000

Limerick City And County Council €120,000

Dublin City Council €140,000

Tipperary County Council €150,000

Kerry County Council €200,000

Galway County Council €200,000

Mayo County Council €200,000

Donegal County Council €200,000

Cork County Council €200,000

Total €3,000,000