Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I commend Sinn Féin on bringing forward this well-considered and timely Bill. I am delighted to note as well that it is many of my fellow rural, female Deputies who are taking the lead on it.

Flooding continues to cause irreparable damage to communities and businesses across Ireland regularly. We desperately need a proactive, whole-of-government and sustainable response to this issue. Ministers of State in previous Governments made progress in this area and the programme for Government outlines aspirations in respect of it. Deputy Sherlock went into the history of the matter in sufficient detail. It is essential that our response to flooding be more comprehensive. To properly deal with flooding, we have to consider the broader landscape. We need to see the end of bad planning and piecemeal interventions. Flood relief needs to come with afforestation and a watershed approach to flood management. We also need to play our part to address climate change by reducing our national emissions and fulfilling all of our other climate commitments.

The Bill represents the type of holistic approach that is needed by creating a single competent authority to co-ordinate flood risk and management along the River Shannon. A single body clearly responsible for flood management would enable a watershed approach. This would consider the whole river system as one unit and take an integrated perspective.

Changes in land use upstream leads to more sedimentation down river. Building on floodplains increases the risk of flooding and results in more run-off water. Developments of wetlands reduce their capacity to hold water. Flooding has so many different interlinked causes and to deal with it we must consider each and every one of the causes together and see how they can be addressed.

Watershed programmes provide integrated flood management and protections. We must address the planting of forestry along watercourses. We must also engage in wetland and habitat restoration activities, fish passage and water quality improvements. There is also a need for greater co-ordination of planning and developments along rivers.

We should be working with the landscape, using and enhancing natural defences. We are familiar with the phrase "flattening the curve" in the context of the pandemic, but it also applies to river flooding. Measures to strengthen storage upstream, better agricultural land management and sustainable urban drainage systems, are proven methods of addressing flooding with less of an impact on landscapes and towns. Instead of economically and environmentally costly projects focused on towns, we need to solve the problem by looking at the whole river system. The single authority this Bill proposes could facilitate this approach. The current practice of flood management in Ireland prioritises expensive hard engineering works, such as massive, permanent walls and embankments which significantly impact on the natural and cultural landscape. I hope the proposed agency would take a more nuanced look at understanding the issues involved and propose more proportionate responses.

A related issue is the level of public involvement in flood management planning and implementation. Morally and legally, under the Aarhus Convention and related agreements, members of the public have a right to participate in a range of decisions where there may be an environmental impact. Local knowledge is so important. Too often, the communities most affected by flooding feel overlooked because their voices are largely disregarded or frustrated by bureaucratic and technical systems. The creation of a new agency would be an opportunity to avoid such past mistakes and to outline a new partnership model with families, farmers, and businesses along the river. We should have proactive processes to draw up certain plans and programmes relating to the environment.

We cannot talk about flooding and not refer to climate change. The latter is a driving force behind the increased scale and occurrence of flood events in recent years and if we do not take it seriously ,even the OPW's walls will not save us. Ireland’s 2020 target is to achieve a 20% reduction of emissions on 2005 levels, but projections indicate it will be in the range of 5% to 6%. The Government's annual transition statement was released during the summer and its catalogue of our current policy inadequacies should have been a wake-up call. Action is required immediately. The past five years, since the signing of the Paris Agreement, have been squandered on shallow gestures and a focus on efficiencies over achievements. We need action, not only because of the inevitable fines, but because of the moral obligation we have to the next generation.

The proposed Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill is most welcome. However, its deficiencies are already being highlighted. It is severely lacking in terms of climate governance, accountability, and target ambition. We need real climate action, backed up by robust legislation if we are to address flooding.

I welcome this Bill, and I thank Deputies for highlighting flooding and for speaking up for their communities. I look forward to contributing more to the Bill on Committee Stage. I hope that there is scope for amendments that increase public participation mechanisms and seek sustainable flooding solutions.

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