Dr. Cathal Gallagher:

I will be brief, as most of the points have been covered already. The question of attenuation and the look of the catchment is important. There are many measures and stakeholders involved. This needs to be modelled. There are flood models, but before engaging in a large scheme, one needs to be able to demonstrate that all other measures have been considered. This requires a multi-agency and multistakeholder approach.

Regarding education for farmers and everyone else, it is difficult to tell someone whose house has flooded that we will do something up the catchment that will fix the problem. Demonstration is a big part of that, and we need to be able to demonstrate to people that these solutions work.

For us, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the impacts of climate change is the flood. The droughts we are experiencing and the time of year they are occurring have significant biodiversity impacts. We are having drought periods when we should have normal flows or flood periods. This change in cycle in catchments is affecting migrations and biodiversity a great deal. As such, there is more to this than just flooding. We need to be able to release water when we need it. This is a complex issue and it needs a co-operative catchment-based approach and for us all to work together and try to come up with solutions.