County Clare will be allocated almost half of the €20 million in funding to repair flood defences and coastal protection in the communities worst affected by the first of this winter’s extreme weather events.

Minister of State at the Office of Public Works Brian Hayes made the announcement of where the funds will be allocated this morning, with County Clare being allotted €8.27m of the €19.6m fund.

Its coastal towns were the most adversely affected by the first of the major winter storms that occurred before Christmas.

Some €4m will go to Co Mayo with sums of over €1m going to Counties Galway, Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Wexford.

Mr Hayes told The Irish Times this morning that this is the first of a possible three such allocations to repair defence infrastructure battered and damaged by storms throughout December and January.

Minister of the Environment Phil Hogan will be bringing a memo to Government at the end of this month based on estimates of damage he has received from local authorities in areas affected by the two later weather events in January and February. Mr Hayes said he expected that further funds would be allocated by Government as a result, to repair the defence.

Mr Hayes said this morning: “Since Christmas, I have visited many coastal communities which have suffered so severely from storms, flooding and tidal surges. The physical damage will take time to repair and I am pleased that my Office has responded so quickly.

He said the OPW would be willing to advance up to 80 per cent of the funding required up front to allow the work to begin quickly.

Details:

Clare: €8,276,433

Cork County: €1,057,000

Donegal: €662,000

Dublin City: €15,000

Fingal: €200,000

Galway County: €1,144,800

Galway City: €105,000

Kerry: €1,226,920

Louth: €191,000

Mayo: €4,205,000

Meath: €75,000

Sligo: €1,200

Waterford: €1,150,000

Wexford: €1,277,000

Total: €19,586,353