Mr. Michael Silke:

The summer flooding that occurs on the River Shannon is of grave concern to farmers in the area. In early June 2012 the most serious summer flooding that has ever been witnessed in the Shannon catchment area began. This flooding had a devastating effect on the farming community, irrespective of one's county of origin. The horrifying reality was that thousands of hectares of grasslands and meadow lands which farmers would have used to graze their stock and to harvest and conserve for their winter fodder requirements was totally destroyed. This forced farmers to house their stock in early summer, at huge financial cost to themselves. Today farmers in these areas are facing total financial ruin as a result of the flooding. The only response from official Ireland was the standard response that this was an act of God. There was no consideration of issues such as damage to the environment, the public good or the level of human suffering and the social and economic effects that farmers were enduring.

In recent years, all-party Oireachtas committees had come up with proposals and recommendations which would have some beneficial effect as regards summer flooding. Sadly none of these has ever been acted upon. Today politicians are putting their faith in CFRAMS, the cartchment flood risk management and assessment study, which is taking place in respect of the Shannon but will not be finalised until 2015 at least. It is a long way down the line and we will still only have a proposal, a study, a survey, or whatever one wishes to call it. In the interim we have a major problem.

Early indications would suggest that farmers are losing confidence in the process, largely because of what I have said, as it was envisaged that there would be a lead agency, namely, the OPW which would dictate what works would be put in place to alleviate flooding. While all the agencies have a role, such as the OPW, the ESB, Waterways Ireland, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Bord na Móna to some extent as well as local authorities, political responsibility must be taken by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes. None of these people are taking responsibility. It is unacceptable that agencies can have a veto when proposals are made for the alleviation of flooding and actions are urgently required. No one agency should have a veto particularly when it comes to protecting the public good which includes the livelihoods of farmers, dwellers in towns and villages along the river.

In the case of Waterways Ireland, whose remit on the waterways is solely for navigation and recreational purposes, it has consistently allowed artificially high levels to be maintained in our lakes, which has contributed massively to serious summer flooding in recent years. However, Waterways Ireland has suggested that it is working within a parameter with the ESB through a so-called "gentleman's agreement" to maintain the river and the lakes at a certain level. This is totally unacceptable.

The aim should be to reduce the water levels to the lowest level for navigation purposes so that the river is able to take additional water at critical times such as times of excessively heavy rainfall. Why were not Met Office forecasting procedures not used in anticipation of the high rainfall that arose last June?

In the case of the ESB, it is clear that the holding back of water at critical times has led to a situation where it has contributed massively to serious summer flooding. There is no doubt that water levels in Lough Ree, Lough Allen and Lough Derg are maintained at an artificially high level.

Farmers want to know why the water levels in Lough Ree were tampered with in the 1970s and have risen by 0.6 m, which is exactly 2 feet. These levels were given statutory effect in 1979. As farmers, we contend that this has been a major issue in respect of flooding since that particular time. This was done without consultation. We would like to know who was this facilitating? Was this to facilitate a wider navigation course all over Lough Ree? Members of the committee need to address this issue.

The current system, which is underpinned by protocols dating back to the 1970s, disregards landowners' interests. It is outdated and needs to be overhauled urgently to address the concerns of farmers whose lands are submerged in water frequently during the summer months. Surely it is wrong that these agencies can destroy people livelihoods and inflict massive dollops of human suffering along with financial ruin and still not be held responsible.

Essential maintenance work has not taken place despite the fact that various reports over many decades indicated that remedial works in key areas along the river Shannon would have a massive beneficial effect for farmers, the wider community and also the protection of our globally threatened wildlife species. As I have alluded to, it is contended by two groups in the House that certain works would have massive beneficial effects. We have only to look at the corncrake population which has been wiped out as a direct consequence of summer flooding, particularly in the past ten years. The figures for same are not supplied in the handout. In 2002 there were 59 calling males in the Shannon catchment area, that is, between Athlone, Portumna and Meelick, a stretch of about 27.5 miles. For every calling male bird there is at least one female and two females in many cases. Today, there is none. They are gone. Their nests and their young have been washed away. I do not think we will ever see a corncrake in that region again. This is a globally threatened species. The same will happen to the wader bird population which is decimated to a large extent. I am talking about the lapwing, the redshank, the curlew and the snipe which are also globally threatened. They will be washed away like the corncrake if something is not done.

The consequences of the failure to maintain the Shannon River system, with tributaries such as the river Suck and river Little Brosna since the foundation of the State has also had a major impact on the failure of foreign fishermen to return to our country, largely because they cannot access the river due to major situation and high water levels.

The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who has responsibility for OPW, must take a lead and insist on implementing a strategy. This must include an early warning system for extreme weather patterns and allow water to move on when heavy rainfall is forecast and occurs. We also need to see essential maintenance work carried out. All of these measures have to be given legislative effect. An issue which we as farmers have is that while OPW is the lead agency it has no power to empower the ESB, Waterways Ireland or the National Parks and Wildlife Service to do what needs to be done. It can cajole them but that is all it can do.

The promise of a lead agency with proper legislative powers must be delivered upon. That was promised by the two previous Governments and it still has not happened. The current situation whereby more than half a dozen agencies have a say in water levels, with some having a veto on whether remedial works go ahead, is untenable and must be changed. The failures of the past must not be allowed continue and it is up to the Government to address the issue once and for all.

In his opening address the Chairman raised the issue of insurance. We should not get hung up on that issue. I have 100 acres of land which has been flooded since 7 June 2012 and it is still flooded. I do not mind it being flooded now. I got nothing out of it during the whole summer and I do not know if I will get anything out of it next summer. I do not have money. Even if I could afford to insure it, why would I insure it?

As I see it, this is what will happen in my area. Farmers are financially ruined as a consequence of the summer flooding. There is no question about that. They do not have money to pay premiums. For instances, in the town of Ballinasloe there were two young girls whom I knew who bought houses in Derrymullen estate and gave big prices for them during the Celtic tiger years, and who were flooded in 2009. They now have €150,000 to €200,000 of negative equity. They have houses worth nothing and they cannot afford to insure them again. They cannot afford to pay the premia. As farmers, will we go down the same route? That is where we are going.

The issue is not insurance. We must tackle the core issue, which is the failure of the State since its foundation to put in place a proper maintenance programme, to remove the impediments in the Shannon and to go back to the levels that existed prior to the 1970s. We have a serious problem with that. The levels should not have been tampered with. If they were, there should have been an alternative strategy put in place to take away the water that is coming north of Athlone into waste boglands over a critical period and release it, maybe, at a more appropriate time, as time goes by, but none of that has happened. The simplest solution was to widen the navigation course on Lough Ree to get the boats above the silt and get them into places where they never went previously. We, as farmers, have paid a savage price for that.