Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In all my discussions with the members of the interdepartmental group and with the agencies such as the National Parks and Wildlife, I have never heard anybody say that rivers should not be cleared. There is a case for the flow of water. We must get water from A to Z. We start at the outfall, be it the sea, and we work our way back. We must have flow and how we achieve that flow is by having clear channels. At present in Claregalway we are deepening a channel at the bridge by 1.2 m to create more capacity to get water flowing towards the sea. We are doing the work but we must abide by the rules and regulations. There are certain times when one can do work and there are certain times one cannot do work and we must work with all the other bodies involved such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service. A member suggested that we have a single authority to deal with this, but when one looks at planning for housing, one sees the same agencies involved. We have a crisis with homelessness and we must try to deal with within the structures that exist. I think the legislation that is coming forward will help us in that.