Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge his initiative in heading down to Lough Funshinagh at the earliest opportunity, to see for himself the issues at stake there.I have not personally been down. I have seen the news footage and the social media commentary. It is very difficult and I acknowledge the work of all the local Senators and Deputies for the area, particularly Senator Dolan and Senator Murphy, who have raised the matter here on the floor of the Seanad on numerous occasions. I know Senator Dolan has raised this issue as well within the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, and I am sure Senator Murphy has as well in Fianna Fáil Party meetings. At the previous party meeting, I spoke in support of Senator Dolan in relation to that difficult situation of the law versus what one would assume to be common sense. Common sense is that, if water is rising and it is impacting on people, the water is pumped some place. That is the common sense. We have to get to common sense. We have to be able to say this is what is happening, this is the solution needed and we get that done.

I acknowledge the advocacy and all the work that is done by the Minister of State's Department and, indeed, Roscommon County Council and the work it did in 2021 on the underground overflow pipe that takes the excess water by gravity to the River Shannon. Unfortunately, as we have seen, there were judicial reviews of the work that was done. It is hard to fathom sometimes why these things happen. Who decides, despite the works that were being done and having clearance in terms of environmental reports and such, to take it upon himself or herself and decide this is worth pursuing throughout the courts by way of a judicial review to try to stop works that were designed and initiated to save people's properties, their mental health - or at least improve it - farmlands, SACs, habitats, trees, birds, hedges and whatever else is in the area?

Turloughs are beautiful. While I will not say they are unique to Ireland, they are very much associated with many parts of Ireland and with limestone karst land and so on. They are only beautiful if they work, that is, if they do what they say on the tin, they go away, give reprieve and there is valuable grazing land over the summer and autumn before they come back again. Almost magically or mysteriously, they come back but disappear again. Unfortunately, the water at Lough Funshinagh has not disappeared and, as I said, we have to get to a common-sense solution. The Minister of State said in his statement it is not possible to pump the water away from the area and that water must be pumped back in to the lake to keep it away from the properties. That is where there is a lack of common sense. I know the reasons the Minister of State is saying this, because of the judicial reviews and everything else, but if, in the wit of man and the European Union, we cannot come to a solution to mitigate the issues at Lough Funshinagh, then there is something wrong in the body politic, in the laws of the land and in European laws. I welcome the seeking of advice from the Attorney General. Whatever initiatives have to be taken and whatever needs to be done must be done. I feel for the people involved.

In my earlier days as a local councillor and even now from time to time, I deal with flooding issues. I remember flooding in a particular estate. I was living at home at the time upstairs and there was a skylight on the roof. Every time it rained, the rain battered against the skylight and I thought, God, was this estate going to flood, was there going to be more flooding and was I going to get a phone call, as I did at times at 3 o'clock in the morning in Dublin with flooding in Galway, although that was later on. These are the issues that you think about and you face. I cannot imagine what that is like, to look out every day, for years at this stage, to see the water rising, your lands unusable, your property under threat and your mental health impacted. I just feel for the people. I urge the Minister of State to do whatever he can do. I know he is doing so in relation to a common-sense solution to get this issue resolved.