Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Bord na Móna is a stakeholder in the Shannon. It is part of the Shannon Group. It is part of the agreement to put the maintenance programme in place which, as I said earlier, is unprecedented. A working group has been put together to identify works we can do fairly easily and works which would take longer as a result of having to get consent and because of the environment and the Habitats Directive. Bord na Móna is part of that. I met representatives of Bord na Móna last year and they are very co-operative. They very much want to make sure we bring a maintenance programme forward. They also suggested that over the winter the low boglands could be used as attenuation ponds, so water could be flooded into them if required. Bord na Móna is definitely on board. All of the stakeholders involved in the Shannon are signed up to working together to bring in a maintenance programme.

We talk about Bord na Móna and silt in the Shannon. I have looked at it and there are other areas where silt is coming in from private bogs. That has to be looked at. Over the years, things were done but now Bord na Móna works under a regime and what they can and cannot put into the Shannon is being controlled by the EPA. I raised that in my first meeting with the Shannon Group.

The other issue is the pilot schemes on water levels on Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg. It shows the Shannon Group has mettle. It has demonstrated its mettle and that it is working with intent to get things done. It has been a success this winter and is being monitored on an ongoing basis. All of the local groups have recognised that things are being done in a co-operative way. The local groups in Carrick-on-Shannon, the groups we met at the conference in Athlone and the groups in Ballinasloe are also very co-operative.