Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Apologies have been received from Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív. I remind committee members, staff, witnesses and those in the Visitors Gallery to turn off their mobile phones as they interfere with the sound system and make it difficult for the parliamentary reporters to report the proceedings of the meeting. They also cause problems in broadcasting the proceedings on television and radio and in web streaming.

By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the joint committee. However, if they are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official, either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

It is proposed that any opening statement, submission or other document supplied by witnesses or other bodies to the committee on the topic of this meeting be published on its website after the meeting. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We will have two sessions today, the first of which is on flooding at Ballycar on the Galway-Limerick railway line. It will be followed by a discussion on opportunities for investment in heavy rail. This is the third of our series of meetings on these topics.

The Galway-Limerick railway line is regularly under water at Ballycar. The flooding is frequent and persistent and, owing to climate change, will only get worse. It is an example of brown water flooding which also occurs elsewhere in Galway and in counties such as Roscommon, Mayo and Clare. The area is slow to flood and slow to drain. When the water inflow at Ballycar is greater than the outflow after persistent heavy rain, the turlough fills up. The water outflow could be augmented by a pipe running from the turlough, bypassing the bottleneck that is the sinkhole, draining water into Lough Ash and the Shannon Estuary. However, we need to ensure we do not increase other environmental and infrastructural risks.

Mitigating the flood risk at Ballycar requires a collaborative, multi-agency approach. We must avoid a silo mentality in that regard. While the Office of Public Works is the national lead agency for pluvial, alluvial and coastal flood risk mitigation measures, Geological Survey Ireland takes the lead in investigating brown water flooding. Clare County Council is responsible for flood risk mitigation in County Clare, while Irish Rail is the rail operator and responsible for railway infrastructure. The National Parks and Wildlife Service is concerned with special areas of conservation, SACs, while the Irish Aviation Authority has infrastructure which could be at risk from flooding. Addressing the flooding is important if confidence in the rail service is to be maintained. Passengers need to know that the service is reliable. The committee sees the Galway-Limerick railway line as phase one of the western railway corridor project which we hope to see extended to Tuam and Claremorris and eventually Sligo.

The committee is delighted to meet representatives from the various bodies represented at what is our third meeting on this subject. I thank committee members for supporting me in bringing it forward. Prior to the intervention of the committee, the agencies involved were not talking to each another and there was some passing of the parcel, for want of a better term.

In his opening statement Mr. Hedderly will highlight the collaborative efforts of the various agencies involved. I am encouraged that the deadlines put forward last November have been lived up to and that serious work has been undertaken in a joint effort by the agencies. I invite Mr. Hedderly to make his opening statement on behalf of the various agencies involved.