James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I am sharing my time with Deputy O'Dowd and I thank my colleagues, Deputies O'Dowd and Hogan, for bringing this very important motion before the House.

Fine Gael is the only party that has formulated plans to restructure Ireland's water supply through the establishment of a single water semi-State utility company. The recent extreme weather conditions of flooding, snow and ice highlighted the fact that the Government was in no way prepared to roll out a rapid and effective response to unusually severe conditions, as judged by this country's normal standards. By international standards the weather that brought this country to a standstill was relatively unremarkable, as visitors who saw us struggling to cope were quick to point out.

I am disappointed in the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, who, although a County Roscommon-based Deputy, has not worked to establish a River Shannon authority to manage water levels and bring them under control in severe weather conditions and excessive flooding. This call comes loud and clear from all the people of the midland counties. If the Minister of State had been present at a meeting two weeks ago he would have heard that single message coming from the people on the night. We had geography and history lessons from the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, that night, but no action. I expect Deputy Finneran to deliver on the promises made by a number of Fianna Fáil Deputies and councillors with regard to the establishment of a River Shannon authority. This has been called for by Fine Gael for a great number of years.

However, lacking a Government response to the climatic conditions, the fall-out was far worse than it should have been. Services ground to a halt and chaos and hardship ensued. In the midlands, recent bad weather brought major incidences. There were burst mains in counties Longford and Westmeath, in the towns of Mullingar, Granard and Longford town. Reservoirs in both counties-----

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