Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. As I understand it, the railway line has already been raised. Clare County Council intends to raise the road at three different locations where it floods, which is welcome. I do not believe raising the railway line is the solution. I note that €10 million is a lot of money. larnród Éireann, the OPW and Clare County Council are all State bodies receiving public money and public money has gone into the railway line to get up and running. It is a successful railway line and many people use it to go from Ennis to Limerick. This issue is undermining the national rail network. It has an impact on people going to work and tourists and needs to be resolved. It is having an impact on people living in Ballycar. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has committed to involving an official from the OPW in a working group because there has been a lot of passing the buck in respect of this issue. I am delighted that the Minister of State has stood up to the plate today and committed himself to involving an official from the OPW in a working group. I will commit to contacting Clare County Council to ask it to convene a meeting between itself, the OPW, larnród Éireann, local landowners and the residents with a view to coming up with some type of solution. It may not cost €10 million. Local people have put forward some solutions that they feel may alleviate the flooding problem. I will commit to doing that and, hopefully, some solution can be found.

See this speech in context