Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Prevention, maintenance or protection? I was not a Deputy in 2009 but a councillor with Leitrim County Council and I hope I will not be a Deputy when the next storm comes because if I am, it means there is another storm coming before this Dáil concludes. As a councillor with Leitrim County Council, I remember the devastation done after the 2009 storms to businesses, home owners and farms and I remember the desolation. I went again to people in my constituency and the broader constituency around Sligo and Leitrim, south Donegal and west Cavan and I saw the same picture again. I was talking to a mother whose kids, about ten days before Christmas, were asking when they could put up the tree and the decorations. She was wondering whether the family could stay in the family home as the waters inched closer to her back door. Businesses which were fighting against the odds to try to make the little bit of extra income over Christmas, on which their year depended, were terrified. One thing was learned, however. I have to say the local authorities were good. This year there was less of the red tape and the bureaucracy. The sandbags were ready, decisions were made quickly and the local authority worked with local communities and other agencies, but it was all damage limitation. That is why I began with my question, "Prevention, maintenance or protection?"

It is difficult to understand why floods come as a surprise to people. The storm in 2009 was supposed to be a once in 100 years or once in 50 years event, but it was not and it will not be in the future. We have to invest to ensure we prevent floods occurring in the places where they are known to occur. A big part of the problem is that the investment has not been made in recent years. We discuss permanent barriers or temporary barriers and Deputies will have an opportunity tomorrow to vote on a Bill to create a single agency with responsibility. We cannot afford any longer to have the scenario where everybody is responsible but nobody is responsible. We can kick-start proper planning by supporting that Bill tomorrow. I pay compliments to the local authorities, the Defence Forces, the fire services and the local communities who worked so hard. One thing the home owners and businesses to whom I spoke remembered was that, after the last time, we were promised this would not happen again but it has happened again. I am sure the same debate was held in this Chamber in 2009 or early in 2010. People could have cut and pasted their speeches for that discussion. My brief is communications, energy and natural resources and this crisis could become a catastrophe.

Imagine five or ten years hence if fracking is permitted anywhere on this island. Imagine the poisons and chemicals that would be poured and washed into the Shannon. People talk about the Shannon as a source of drinking water for Dublin, but imagine the catastrophe five or ten years hence. What we are dealing with at present is a crisis. Let us deal with that and do the preventative work, but let us ensure no further consideration is given to the potential for the catastrophe of poisoning our environment, economy and society as a result of fracking at any time in the future.

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