OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí

History of Flood Risk Management

Flooding has been a major concern in this country for at least the past two centuries as reflected by the various Drainage Acts passed in, inter alia, 1842, 1867, 1925, 1928, 1945 and 1995.

The Arterial Drainage Act, 1945

The Browne Commission (Report of The Drainage Commission 1938-1940), which examined flooding and improvement of land through drainage, commenced its deliberations in 1938 and resulted in the development of the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945 .This is the primary piece of legislation that we have operated over the last 50 years, and empowered the OPW to undertake catchment-wide arterial drainage schemes to reduce flooding.

Arterial Drainage Act Amendment, 1995

The emphasis of the 1945 Act was the improvement of agricultural land. Following severe flooding of a number of towns in the mid to late 80s and early 90s, the act was amended in 1995, when the emphasis of flood management activity shifted to the protection of urban areas subject to flooding.This amendment empowered the OPW to undertake localised flood relief schemes  to protect and reduce flood risk in individual urban areas.

Review of National Flood Policy, 2002-2004

Following further major floods in 2000 and 2002, a review of national flood policy was initiated by the then Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Mr. Tom Parlon, T.D. This review was aimed at determining policy on flood risk management for the future, and clarifying roles and responsibilities among the various Departments, the Local Authorities and other organisation involved with managing and responding to floods. The recommendations of the Report of the Flood Policy Review Group Link required were approved by Government in September 2004, setting the OPW and Ireland on a new direction in flood risk management .

Flood Policy Implementation

The Report of the Flood Policy Review Group made a series of recommendations in relation to new work and approaches that should be taken to identify and manage flood risk, and recommended that the OPW be appointed as lead agency for flood risk management.

Following government approval of these recommendations, we and our partner organisations (notably the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and the Local Authorities) have been developing and implementing a wide range of integrated and comprehensive Work Programmes to ensure effective management of flood risk into the future. These Work Programmes, along with our existing programmes of capital flood relief and drainage maintenance, now form the focus of our current activities.