mr kelly the floods directive was adopted in two thousand and seven and the process of implementation is under way
in the last month new floods have reminded us of the serious consequences of floods and of the importance of flood risk management which focuses on prevention preparedness and protection
the floods directive requires all member states to prepare comprehensive plans to reduce flood risks
importantly the public and interested parties need to be consulted on these plans and member states need to cooperate in transboundary waterways
the first two implementation deadlines have already expired
firstly the legal transposition into national law was due by november two thousand and nine
to date twelve member states including ireland have met this deadline
ten member states have not yet notified their transposition of the directive and five member states have only notified partial transposition
the commission is pursuing infringement cases to respond to this situation
as regards the notification by the member states to the commission of administrative arrangements the deadline expires on twenty-six june of this year
twenty three member states including ireland have notified
the commission is now checking that all relevant information on the responsible authorities and the geographical coverage of the units of management is in compliance with the directive
the main implementation milestones are still some time away
across the european union member states are preparing these steps which are firstly to carry out a preliminary flood risk assessment in twenty eleven and to identify areas of potential significant flood risks secondly to prepare detailed flood hazard maps and flood risk maps by twenty thirteen and thirdly to prepare the first flood risk management plans in twenty fifteen
the public and interested parties must also be consulted on these plans before they are adopted
as regards ireland we understand the implementation is well under way and we have no reason to believe ireland is delayed in implementing the directive
ireland has notified the legislation transposing the directive and has reported administrative arrangements
we furthermore welcome the fact that ireland has already undertaken pilot exercises in the dodder catchment in the dublin area as well as in the lee catchment in the south of ireland where a draft catchment flood risk management plan was prepared and submitted to public consultation
ireland also takes an active role at the european level in promoting valuable information exchange between the member states on different topics related to the implementation of the directive such as on how to deal with flash and pluvial floods flood mapping and development of flood risk management plans
