Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the draining of rivers and waterways and how we operate, in Cork in recent weeks we have had horrendous flooding in Midleton, but Bandon and other towns like Clonakilty and Skibbereen were not flooded because of the drainage works which had been carried out there. In Bandon, they lowered the River Bandon by 1.8 m for a 3 km stretch. Even though we had something like 27 inches of rainfall in less than two months, Bandon was the driest town in west Cork. I am a little bit unclear as to how we can do this on some level in the urban centres. We have this policy of leaving agricultural land to become vast flood plains. It raises the question as to what the national strategy is at this stage because it does not work with regard to how we can move it forward. Mr. Silke says the legislation is not there, but still we can do it in those towns. Is it that the will is not there in some locations rather than the legislation? What is Mr. Silke's view with regard to legislation? Is the legislation or the will the issue?