Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Chair mentioned the Minister of State's predecessor, Kevin Boxer Moran, who was excellent at coming out and visiting rural communities. I am sure the Minister of State will do the same post Covid. He was also excellent in finding ways to try to resolve some of the issues in some of the projects. One of those projects was the Clady River in Gaoth Dobhair. There was a major issue there where the bridge was swept away. That caused major problems because it was not an OPW or county council bridge. Basically, three families were left stranded and they had to resolve the issue themselves. I live close to this area. There has been heavy rain in Gaoth Dobhair in recent days and that river is at road level again. There is always an issue with that road and the adjoining houses. My understanding is that Donegal County Council and the OPW have never progressed an application for funding for upstream flood mitigation. It needs to be done. I know the problem is probably at Donegal County Council's level but I ask the Minister of State's officials to reach out to Donegal County Council to try to resolve some of the issues upstream where debris is being caught in that bridge and is basically causing a barrier for the river flowing. I encourage the Minister of State to look at that.