Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleague, the Cathaoirleach, in welcoming the Malaysian delegation, led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. bin Abdul, and the Malaysian ambassador to Ireland. I also welcome the former members of the Catalonian Parliament. They are all welcome to Ireland. As I told the Malaysian delegation, I hope the former members of the Catalonian Parliament get the opportunity to visit Limerick, a city near Shannon that I represent in our Parliament. I thank everyone for the opportunity to address the very important issue of flooding at Lough Funshinagh in County Roscommon. I know it is of huge interest to Members in the House, particularly Senators Dolan and Murphy who live in and represent that area, as well as many other Members in the region and throughout Ireland.

To put it in context, I was recently appointed Minister of State with responsibility\ for the Office of Public Works, OPW. I was appointed on a Wednesday and two days later I visited Lough Funshinagh along with officials from the OPW, Roscommon County Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to see for myself exactly what the position was on the ground. I saw at first hand the devastating impact the excessive water levels in Lough Funshinagh is having on homeowners, farmers and the wider community. I really saw the devastation that is being caused to the ecology of this important habitat. That is hugely important as well. One thing I found when I visited the people living around Lough Funshinagh was how warm they are and how difficult a time they have had, but also their love for Lough Funshinagh itself in terms of biodiversity. It is hugely important to them. They were able to point out trees that were dying and which they would have looked at their entire lives. I found them to be a very cultured people and very much in tune with nature. They are undergoing huge devastation as a result of the constant flooding there, however, and many have had to leave their homes.

I will give some background on Lough Funshinagh itself. The eight towns that straddle Lough Funshinagh have lived in harmony with it for decades. There is a long history of farming and community activity on and around the lake, which includes the playing of sports on the bed of the lake when dry and also fishing and hunting and its designation as a wildlife sanctuary.

Historically the highest levels in the lake were typically about 66 m above Poolbeg ordnance datum, mOD. The land, when dry, is used as commonage for farming, and the community works to preserve the rich biodiversity associated with this area. It is hugely important to the people living around it, including farmers and the rest of the community, and we should not in any way lose sight of that. It is one feature that struck me.

Since 2016, this turlough, or dry and disappearing lake, in a special area of conservation, SAC, has not drained as it did previously. The water levels at Lough Funshinagh this month are at their highest recorded levels. The rainfall analysis suggests that the flooding in Lough Funshinagh is a result of heavy rainfall over several consecutive years that restricts the lake from getting a chance to recover or drain back to normal levels.

Based on the water level data since 2016, it can be seen that the lake is very predictable with regard to the time of year at which the peak levels occur. For the past six years, the highest peak level in each year has occurred in the four-week period between 15 March and 17 April. Since 2015-16, the levels in Lough Funshinagh have peaked at new recorded levels. In April 2021, levels in Lough Funshinagh reached a then record high of 69.04 mOD, which is some 1 m above the previous recorded high in 2016. Between January and April 2024, the average daily rise in the lough continued at approximately 1 cm. On 20 April 2024, the levels reached their highest ever recorded, at 69.38 mOD, or 3.38 m above the normal annual high level of 66 mOD. Today, the levels are at 69.31 mOD, or 3.31 m above the normal annual high level of 66 mOD. This extra 3.31 m spans an extended area of 178 ha. The additional volume of water contained in this extended area is approximately 3 million cu. m or the equivalent of 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools by volume. It is just gigantic in proportions.

The rising water levels have led to public safety, human life and environmental issues and continue to impact heavily on the homeowners and community surrounding the lake, including farmers in the area. Having visited the community two days after I was appointed to this office with officials from the OPW, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Roscommon County Council, I have witnessed the human impact of flooding at Lough Funshinagh, including more than 500 ha of agricultural land that has been submerged, with water spilling onto public roads and surrounding residential housing, farmyards and businesses.Particular transport routes, including the R362 regional road and four other local primary and secondary routes, have been made impassable, isolating communities and hindering emergency response efforts.

Unusually deep floodwaters pose significant health and safety risks, not only to residents but also to officials servicing pumps near the water's edge. There is also the psychological impact on people, which is enormous. I have also witnessed the ecological impact this flooding is having, including on water quality due to submerged septic tanks and farmyard buildings, dead trees appearing over the water levels of the lake, and the disappearance of wild fowl that were part of the turlough's ecosystem.

This morning, I travelled to meet people around Lough Funshinagh and officials from the OPW, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Roscommon County Council. I also met the Lough Funshinagh action group and TDs, Senators and councillors, including Senators Murphy and Dolan. We had what I hope was a very frank and open discussion. We are all about finding solutions.

Roscommon County Council has deployed every emergency response achievable measure it can, through road raising, pumping and sandbags, to keep the rising water levels from entering people’s properties. It is not possible to pump the water away from the area, just to pump it back into the lake and keep it away from properties. The OPW is supplying seven pumps to Roscommon County Council. It is servicing these pumps on site to support the council’s efforts to mitigate and manage the flood risk. At present, 11 properties at risk from floodwaters are being defended. In four of these properties, the floor level is below the level of water on the lake. Lough level changes are being closely monitored and risk-assessed on site by Roscommon County Council. The Civil Defence has also been requested by Roscommon County Council to undertake local patrols to gain familiarity with the local terrain and it has done so over recent weekends. In the week commencing 8 April 2024, Roscommon County Council had to evacuate two families from their properties and close a regional road, the R362 at Curraghboy, except for local access. These measures will remain in place for some months.

In 2021, Roscommon County Council started works to lay an underground pipe to take the excess waters, by gravity, to the River Shannon. These works, at a cost of some €2 million, are 60% complete. They are being carried out by the OPW. On two occasions, Roscommon County Council was stopped, through judicial review, from undertaking and completing emergency works to install an overflow pipe to take away the excess water from Lough Funshinagh to the River Shannon, which is 3 km away, and to reduce the levels back to their normal high level of 66 mOD. These works for an overflow pipe were designed by an engineering and environmental consultant and were screened for their impact on the environment and the special area of conservation. As a result, Roscommon County Council has, since March 2022, been progressing design and environmental assessments to find a solution to flooding in this area that can withstand judicial challenges. As with all flood relief measures that are complex, this route will take some years. Roscommon County Council has established a steering group and expert working group with cross-governmental representatives, including the OPW and National Parks and Wildlife Service, to inform and support this approach.

There is the question of next winter, however. While the cyclical nature of this turlough suggests that water levels will decrease over the summer months, the excessive rainfall this year, some 130% above average levels recorded since 1952, is an indicator of the risk of an even worse situation occurring next winter. This is what we want to address. Hence, since taking office I have been trying to find a solution, with the OPW and Roscommon County Council, to reduce the levels in the lake over this summer ahead of next winter. These measures will serve several purposes, including the necessary management of the designated Natura site to restore the ecological status of Lough Funshinagh and, as a consequence, removing the flood risk, and the threat and impact of flooding to people’s lives and livelihoods and their communities.

Any conservation measure necessary for the restoration of this designated site must also mitigate any damage to the designated site at Lough Ree, where the excess waters are likely to be discharged. Roscommon County Council has established an expert working group for Lough Funshinagh that is compiling a report to establish evidence to support interventions that are necessary for the management of this designated Natura site, namely to restore the ecological condition of Lough Funshinagh. We need to put in place temporary measures this summer in advance of next winter, and I am conscious of this. Legal advice has been requested to establish the best statutory consent route for any conservation measures to be undertaken as soon as possible, that may be highlighted by this report, to ensure the conservation objectives of the qualifying interests of the site are being met.

Meetings and discussions between the Attorney General, myself as Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, OPW officials, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and Roscommon County Council have been held to discuss and scope out the issues involved. Intensive engagement will continue on the matter.