Mr. Michael Silke:

We consulted Jacobs, the consultants involved in CFRAM. We were disappointed with their presentation on that evening. It did not address, in a fundamental way, the issue of dealing with the levels in Lough Ree. Jacobs simply had not dealt with that. Neither had they dealt with the issue of the feasibility of using cutaway bogs north of Lough Ree. There are thousands of acres of bog in that area. CFRAM should have been involved in looking into that. If Jacobs were to deal with the problem in a comprehensive way, which we were led to believe they would, they should have done that. We were disappointed by a number of other issues, but by that in particular.

A second thing disappointed me personally. I spent considerable time on the River Shannon and on other rivers identifying critical areas. We gave that information, which took a long time to prepare, to the OPW. That report was a layman's perception of what needs to be done, but it was reality none the less. Senior people in the OPW agreed that every area we identified was a critical area. There are a number of critical areas between Athlone and Meelick, and particularly between Banagher and Meelick. We identified them to Jacobs and the OPW.

We could address the problems of those areas and do something with them before Jacobs come up with their proposals. I do not see a lot happening with Jacob's proposals. In the current economic situation we do not have the funds to do what it is hoped they will propose. We will go down the road for at least ten years before we have money to do that. In the interim, however, we could carry out minor alleviation works that would not cost an arm and a leg, with the proper agreement with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and possibly with the involvement of Bord na Móna. Bord na Móna must come back into the process. It put the stuff into the Shannon in the first place and it must be involved. If everything could be married together, we could address the problem and stop at least some of the suffering being caused by flooding at present.

Deputy Corcoran Kennedy mentioned abatement works. I would be worried about that. In the River Suck, for example, there is fall of about 60 ft. between Castlerea and Ballinasloe and only 5 ft. from Ballinasloe to the River Shannon. When the Shannon rose 7 ft., the water flooded the houses in Ballinasloe. How do we stop the Shannon coming back up to Ballinasloe? We might stop the Suck going down into the Shannon but we will not stop the Shannon coming back up into Ballinasloe. That is what is happening.

The only way to address this issue is to get the water flowing and managed properly. That has not happened. It is a matter we must address. I hope that answers the Deputy's question.