Dr. M?che?l ? Cinn?ide:

Very briefly in response to Senator Boylan’s question about the Arterial Drainage Act 1945, there are three actions in the draft biodiversity action plan for the OPW about assessing drainage for biodiversity, assessing new flood relief schemes, etc. They are good actions insofar as they go. It is a start, but it is not enough. The legislation speaks to a period of time from the 1840s to the 1940s when local landlords or the State carried out large-scale drainage in many river systems, such as the River Boyne, the River Moy, the River Clare, etc. The legislation is still in place, so it trumps other biodiversity concerns. If you try to block something that is of concern from a biodiversity point of view, the Act is in place.

The Act needs to be reviewed because it is not fit for purpose from a biodiversity point of view, and has not been since it started in terms of the negative impact on spawning ecosystems and so on, and because of climate change, which possibly requires working a different way through nature-based solutions. It is time to hardwire these new ideas into the legislation as well as committing to the actions in the biodiversity plan.