Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last Friday I read in the paper that finally all the bodies who for the past 20, 30 or 40 years told us we could not do something, acknowledged that one of the solutions would be dredging the areas of the Shannon that are blocked up with silt - I will not call them pinch points. There are areas along the Shannon around Jamestown, Termonbarry, Banagher and Limerick that are blocked up, making the water level rise. Those are the low-hanging fruits we need to act on first and the cruisers can still drive along. For the communities on the river the great advantage is that people can drive along at a lower level and see their fields, gardens and houses. While that may seem like a lot to some people it means that there is a recognition that as part of any solution the dredging of, or maintenance work on, a river or part of a river, not just the Shannon, is a solution or part of one. People who went to the conference in Ballinasloe said room had to be made for the river. Unfortunately, over the past 100 years everyone promised everything but nothing was delivered. Money was never put aside to take down the bushes that had fallen into the Shannon or to clear the silt in it. I was in a boat one day where the Little Brosna is nearly blocked with silt. Whatever responsibility Bord na Móna has, in addition to the money that will be laid out, it needs to row in and make sure its stuff is taken out because that will do good for the land around the Callows in all those places.

This time last year, people were going through torture in every town from the top to the bottom of the Shannon. In south Galway, Mayo and indeed in many parts of Ireland, people did not know whether they would be able to stay in their house that night or the next. That is not the way to go on. In fairness to the Minister of State, we must be honest. I come from a background of moving water and, to be frank, we have plenty of bad land. It is like trying to tame a wild duck; we are at it all our lives. It is not done overnight. Let us be honest with people and tell it straight out. We need a ten-year plan for the likes of the Shannon for maintenance on a continuous basis. If people are given hope and see something being done, it is at least a beginning.

The other things that need to be maintained are the tributaries, such as the River Suck, the River Brosna, which I have mentioned already, and the Boyle River. All of those rivers need cleaning. When was it done? It was never done. One might have seen a dragline doing 100 m of a river every five or ten years, but that was the end of it. We have to make sure that is done. On behalf of the people in the likes of Lough Funshinagh, Lough Corry, in the turloughs, in his area in south Galway and by the River Deel, where there is a bypass to be built, the one thing I would say to the Minister of State is that the cost-benefit analysis needs changing. I know there is more information to come about it. Rural parts of the country will suffer if that is not done.

I note that the Minister of State spoke about Europe in his speech on Friday. I was out there and what they maintained to me and the group I was with was that if one has a management plan, one can work ahead. I have plenty of rows with the National Parks and Wildlife Service myself, but in fairness to it I believe it may be on board now. At the end of the day, having seen rivers done all over the country, we have to recognise that the trout will come back and the eel will come back-----

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