James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me time to discuss this important issue, namely, the need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to establish a River Shannon authority on a statutory basis to take overall control of river management and development in the Shannon catchment and navigation areas, with its prime function being flood protection and alleviation and land drainage.

As householders, farmers and business owners in counties adjoining the Shannon face immeasurable hardship due to unprecedented flooding, the long overdue River Shannon authority which was promised by Fianna Fáil Ministers, particularly one in my own area and another in the midlands area, must be put in place as soon as possible. A River Shannon authority would provide for the overall control of river management and development in the Shannon catchment and Shannon navigation areas from the source of the river to the Shannon Estuary in Limerick.

At present a large number of separate statutory bodies exercise authority over various aspects of river management and a considerable number of private organisations have a direct interest in and beneficial use of the Shannon. These include 11 local authorities in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, Longford, Westmeath, Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Offaly, Galway, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, plus other statutory bodies such as the ESB, OPW, Bord na Mona, IDA Ireland, CIE, the fisheries boards, various drainage boards and committees under the auspices of local authorities, Tourism Ireland, at least three regional tourism organisations, a number of environment and enterprise SPCs, the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, and Transport, and the Shannon Foynes Port Company etc.

Voluntary bodies involved with the River Shannon include the IFA, Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, local fishing clubs, local boating clubs, local yachting clubs, sailing clubs, canoe clubs, commercial boat hire companies, Irish Water Safety, Irish Wildbird Conservancy, Irish Wildlife Trust, bird-watching clubs, ICMSA and National Farmers Union in Northern Ireland. I could go on until morning naming organisations with an involvement in the River Shannon.

There is no structure to ensure the co-ordination of the activities of these bodies. A River Shannon authority would provide such a structure and deal once and for all with the causes and extent of flooding in the Shannon catchment area; the impact of flooding on different sections of society, including farmers, householders, businesses, etc.; and powers to respond to different categories of flooding. A River Shannon authority would be responsible for the regulatory and river management functions of the water authorities - local authorities and the national rural water monitoring committee - including pollution control and quality regulation of the river with powers to prosecute offenders.

Such an authority would have control of putting in place a flood alert system as part of a national system to increase awareness of potential river flooding. It would be responsible for controlling flooding, maintenance works, improving farming and forest practices, and public health. This authority would be endowed with sufficient powers to instigate measures to deal with pollution and enforce them. The ineffectiveness of duplicated and overlapping structures could be remedied by the establishment of a single River Shannon authority. This proposal makes good business sense in terms of efficiency and cost. A unified authority would carry more weight than the many existing separate authorities in ensuring that necessary legislative measures for the River Shannon management and development are enacted and also for attracting EU funds.

Apart from the urgent need to establish a River Shannon authority, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has shamefully refused to draw up planning regulations to prevent the building of houses on flood plains. What does the Minister do now? He blames bad planning. The Minister needs to get a grip on his portfolio. The double blow to those living in counties adjoining the Shannon, of economic downturn and the repercussions of flood damage, are almost too much to bear. I have met many of those people. They are too sad and depressed to even be angry at this stage. I spent all of Saturday and Sunday throughout the areas of south County Longford that adjoin the Shannon.

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