Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to deal with drainage maintenance for a moment or two. I acknowledge that the Minister of State has taken a keen interest in examining with the OPW ways to possibly relieve some of the flooding issues, particularly along the River Shannon basin. However, the Minister of State states:

In terms of drainage maintenance, the OPW continues to maintain all arterial drainage schemes completed under the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act. This investment provides ongoing protection to 650,000 acres of agricultural land, infrastructure and properties through the maintenance of 11,500 km of river channel including 730 km of embankments at an annual cost of €15 million. Separately, local authorities maintain 4,600 km of river channel providing further localised flood protection.

I put it to the Minister of State and his officials that there is in many respects a reluctance to deal with the issue of drainage.