Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Charlie McConalogue for bringing this very important motion before the House tonight. He represents his people in Donegal. We all sympathise with those who have been adversely affected. Their lives have been turned upside down with what has happened.

I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for coming down to Kerry to visit the places that are in trouble there. I especially thank him for the €77,000 he sent to deal with the problem in Currow. As Deputy Michael Healy-Rae has said, we are waiting for and hoping for more funding to deal with other issues.

There is one issue that affects all the State and we must grasp hold of it and deal with it. We are talking about two applications that must come in to the Department from Kerry. Inland Fisheries Ireland will not let us touch one spoon of gravel or one spoon of silt in any one of the places we are talking of. This means the rivers will keep rising and we will have to raise the roads and jack up the houses if we are to keep people out of water. There are 22 houses that have been continually flooded in Glenflesk. All that they will let us do there now, by the height of begging, is cut the trees. This has been going on for two or three years. They will now let us cut the trees. God almighty. We always had a closed time in fishing and an open time. People were always able to take the gravel out from the river during the open times. This kept the rivers flowing and they did no harm to anyone and there were fish in the rivers. I want to know from where they got this almighty power.

With regard to cost compliance, there are farmers right around the country being threatened that if they take one spoon of gravel or silt out of the river they would lose their single farm payment. That is blackmail.

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