Flood works in Cork City and Glanmire to begin by next year — but Blackpool faces further wait

However, Blackpool, on Cork's northside, will take longer, he said.

Mr O'Donovan said tenders were expected for Morrison's Island this year and would be "fair game" to begin once contractors were appointed, while Glanmire "hopefully" will see a contractor in the first half of the year.

"Blackpool is different because we still have to wait for consent to be given, which is a form of planning. Togher is finished, Douglas is finished. There's a lot that we have already concluded, there's a lot that we are just at the brink of being able to bring to the next stages," he said.

Blackpool has traditionally been prone to flooding but there has been disagreement about how it should be protected. 

Supporters of the OPW's flood plan say it will bring security to businesses in the village that have been hit numerous times, while environmental campaigners say the planned defences fail to take into account the ecological factors and rich biodiversity in the area.

The Glashaboy river flood relief scheme has been mooted for over a decade since Glanmire was devastated by floods in 2012.

Mr O'Donovan claimed the various flood schemes were not in conflict with the Climate Action Plan and the climate law.

"From my perspective, the updated Climate Action Plan, if anything, reinforces the need for climate adaptation schemes, and I don't necessarily just call them flood relief schemes. 

"These are schemes that are designed to withstand events that have been modelled out into the future, in terms of the changes that we know are going to be forecast by way of what's coming down the line from us from a climate change point of view," he said.

Ireland has "two choices", he said.

"We have a choice to continue with the system of delay, delay, and counter-delay, or we need to adapt a new type of policy approach — first of all, respecting people's right to object which is hugely important, respecting people's right to be able to make submissions, which is very important, but at the same time not negating our obligation as a Government to deliver on public good."

Flooding has caused a "fundamental fear" in Cork and other towns that needed to be assuaged, the minister said.

Bandon's flood scheme has been transformative, he claimed.

"It has been transformative not just in terms of risk, but in terms of the psychology of the people that live in the town who will no longer have to worry about floodwaters bursting through their doors," he said.