Minister Moran announces location for 40 Pumps and Barriers to assist Local Authorities to manage response to localised flood events.

Mr. Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran TD, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, today announced that Sligo, Galway City, Mallow, Cavan, and Portlaoise have been designated as the five locations to receive 20 pumps and mobile water-filled flood barriers (aqua-dams) to supplement local authorities’ emergency equipment stocks.

The Minister said that these locations will make this new emergency response equipment

available to all parts of the country. Local Authorities’ management of these barriers and pumps will provide them with the agility and flexibility to further improve their response to flood events.

Following Storm Chandra, earlier this year, that affected the East and South East of the country, the Government tasked the OPW with procuring pumps and mobile water-filled flood barriers to supplement local authorities’ emergency equipment stocks.

The OPW has worked closely with the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and the market, to inform the acquisition of this equipment.

The OPW published a tender competition for the pumps and barriers over the summer and the tender evaluations are currently being finalised.

The Minister said it is expected that the frameworks to draw down this equipment will be in place and available to the local authorities by November 2026.

The Minister said that while the OPW has sourced these barriers and pumps, they will be managed by the local authorities, and the equipment will be made available for deployment by local authorities nationally.