Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is and it ties in with all of that. There are parts of the River Deel for which nobody is responsible. It is a big issue. There are whole parts of rivers where, if people go to the OPW, the county council or elsewhere, they are told nobody is responsible. There really does need to be a single authority. On the River Deel, the OPW was batting it over to the National Parks and Wildlife Service on the shellfish issue regarding pearl mussel, as well as to Inland Fisheries Ireland, and there was no problem with those agencies whatsoever, which the Minister of State established at that meeting. Again, if I am sound in heart, it is only a small tip of the iceberg as to how fearful people are in Crossmolina. To tell the truth, I am getting fed up of going back again and again and I cannot understand for the life of me why the OPW could not have done some clearing on that river before now. I sincerely hope that come this winter, nothing like the previous flooding will come to pass. However, who will be held accountable for that and why is the OPW not engaging in basic clearing and maintenance of these rivers?