§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the costs of repairing the damage caused to flood protection works by the floods of last October fall on the drainage division's maintenance budget.
§ Mr. ViggersYes. The 1987–88 maintenance budget of the Department of Agriculture's drainage division was increased by £80,000 to allow for purchase of additional materials for repair of damage caused to flood banks last October.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in theOfficial Report to show the sums of money in cash and real terms for each year since 1980 expended on (a)capital works and (b)maintenance on river drainage in (i) the Armagh area, (ii) the Dunmurry-Sprucefield area and (iii) the Omagh area; what are his projections for the current year; and if he will indicate what extra sums he has made available to prevent a repetition of the floods of last October, and what extra sums have been made available to repair damage caused by these floods in the current year.
§ Mr. ViggersThe information is as follows for the years 1982–83 to 1987–88 together with a projection of current year expenditure.providing flood protection in vulnerable areas has been supplemented by an additional £1 million in the current year.
The Department's maintenance effort has been concentrating on the repair of those flood defences requiring immediate attention in October 1987 and account continues to be taken of damage caused at that time in prioritising future works programmes.