Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy means well.

I thank all those who contributed to the debate. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for being here. He is open and frank and he is working hard. However, he must understand that Deputy Moran, who did a good deal of work in his own area last year as was mentioned, seemed to give us a little lecture about bringing forward this motion and making a political football out of this issue. This is our job. Every single week I still have constituents and people from as far away as Deputy Butler's constituency and other places e-mailing, phoning and texting me to ask what is happening, what will happen or whether anything be done. While I acknowledge the Minister of State is engaging and getting work done and that he is concerned about people, we simply cannot wait. If we are sincere about new politics in this Chamber we cannot sit on this issue. That is why we as a party discuss this issue weekly at our parliamentary party meetings. We are adamant about bringing forward legislation. No agency in this State or no arm of Government can supersede this democratic Parliament and Dáil by not carrying out works - when there is an emergency - to ensure people will not have to go through again what they have gone through. We are in a completely different situation now than we were even 15 years ago. We now have flash flooding and more serious rainfall. The patterns of rainfall have changed. The situation is changing all the time. That is why the goalposts must change. With due respect, we talk about dredging the River Shannon and I know the Minister of State is sincere about that, but when will that be done? There is no timeframe for it. This is an emergency. This work must start as soon as possible. That is why we are adamant on this side of the House that there must be one single agency, one single authority, that takes charge of the running of the River Shannon. That is why the electricity Bill 2016 will be brought forward here in June. We will push for there to be a single agency in charge. These are the matters that are being raised with us by our constituents. We know where the problems are and they are all over the country, not only along the River Shannon. We have different situation climatewise and we must deal with it.

I do not want to go into arguing who did what and when they did it. I am not into that and neither is the Minister of State. I just want to correct one matter in regard to Fianna Fáil. In 2004 Fianna Fáil launched the flood risk policy and it set out a new national flood policy. That was the first move in that respect. We all talk about the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme, with which I have some difficulties. I spoke to Jacobs, the engineers, who dealt with this issue. It was launched in 2010 and Fianna Fáil had a major say in it as well. There are good elements in it but there are other aspects of it about which I am concerned. For example, flood defences were put up in certain areas but will they push the water out into other areas and affect other people? The type of concrete flood defences that will be used should not be used now as they are not environmentally friendly. All those issues matter. We must change the laws and the legislation. We are living in a different era. If we do not, we will be in very serious trouble. I could not watch again what I watched and witnessed last year and neither could many other Deputies on all sides of the House. Last May and June people were suffering from the effects of flooding right up to their front doors. The Minister of State witnessed some of that only a few months ago in Rahara in County Roscommon.

The reality is that we must be on the ball. We must move and bring in legislation and insist that agencies co-operate fully. We must work with them but no longer can we have a situation where people will again suffer what they suffered with their homes and businesses being flooded. I know of a farmer and almost his whole farm has been destroyed by water. When the water receded, I could see that all the stone walls on that farm have been flattened. He cannot get any assistance to rebuild those walls and he will have issues in terms of his farm payments.

I will not labour the point further. I thank the Minister of State for his contribution and all the Deputies who contributed. I hope tonight's debate will ensure we focus on this issue, make the bold and brave decisions that are needed and do so quickly.

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