A new scheme worth around €150m is being unveiled to protect Cork homes and businesses from flooding.
The city has been hit by flooding on five occasions in the past eight years.
The new project - the Lower Lee (Cork City) Drainage Scheme - will cover 900 affected homes and 1,200 businesses.
The plans include new flood defences along the River Lee, changes to the operating procedures for the Carrigadrohid & Inniscarra reservoirs, and a new flood forecasting system.
Work is due to begin next year, and the plans will be open for public consultation from today until 20th January at locations in the city and Ballincollig.
Junior Minister Sean Canney is launching the scheme, and he says he wants to shorten the time it takes to complete this type of project.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, he explained: "Since I came into office, I've looked at how long it takes us to get a project from inception to construction. The average seems to be around seven years.
"But we've put in place some measures know which will short circuit that somewhat - in terms of planning, in terms of procurement - to try and speed up the process."
He added: "The projects we're launching today is effectively the planning permission.
"It will be done in stages, and hopefully the first stage of that will get underway in 2017."
