Mr. Michael Silke:

Yes, that is correct. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, in particular, Bord na Móna allowed an awful lot of peat into the river. Without question, Bord na Móna did, it is there and it can be clearly seen. I live between Banagher and Meelick and there are areas of the River Shannon where islands have accumulated. I caught salmon in those areas when I was a child but there is a lot of bitterness these days because one would not waste one's time going out to fish. Things have changed dramatically. Without question, Bord na Móna has destroyed the Shannon. Bord na Móna projects itself as a great protector of the environment but the damage has been done in the Shannon. The local authorities have also pumped a lot of raw sewage into the Shannon and there is a lot of natural run-off. Let us not miss the fact there is run-off of land as well as roads and everything. That has caused major problems in the Shannon. My organisation has, on several occasions, lodged submissions with various bodies to get the silt islands in the Shannon addressed but nothing has been done.

I have listened to some of the environmental talk about slowing up the water. The problem is that the water has been slowed up by Bord na Móna and by what has gone into the Shannon for the last 60 years, which is why we were flooded. We are going to lose everything that is of value to the ecosystem if we do not tackle this issue. That is how serious this matter is.

Mr. Ryan asked a question and he is right. Are we going to let the young lads farm it in the future? To me, there will simply be nothing for them bar we tackle this issue. It was always a good farming area and let us not mince our words here. The area was farmed in an almost organic fashion if not a fully organic fashion, without getting organic payments. That is what is happening in the Shannon callows. Nobody spreads slurry on the callows or fertilises the area to the extent that we fertilise upland, and there is no spraying. I feel that we are being thrown to the wolves at the minute.