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

Even though I spoke to him before, I officially wish the Minister of State the best of luck in his new job. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. The Government has moved an amendment to the Bill. However, we should not play politics with the Shannon, which covers 11 different counties. There are people tortured in all those counties. I ask everybody to come together. This is about the future. We will not drain the river tomorrow or next week. We will not solve its issues in a few days. We need to come together. This is above politics; it is about people.

I stood above in Lough Allen when the level was at 46.2 m. I will remember it for the rest of my life. If it was dropped to that level, it would give Carrick-on-Shannon 14 days. People up there have done the analysis. At Jamestown weir there is a problem with the gate. We stood with the former Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran, in Termonbarry a year ago. There was €8 million worth of gear. I ask the Minister of State to indicate whether this has been bought or is in water. Where is it this gear? It was going to clear where there is water at a particular height at one level at Termonbarry and it is about 5 ft. lower at the other level.

Rivers such as the Suck, the Rinn and the Brosna feed into the River Shannon. If water is coming in - no more than if there are five taps feeding in - there must be an exit. I have driven diggers. I went to Athleague when they were raving about it flooding for years. By simply jumping up on a digger, the problem was solved. The regulations down through the years have been made very clear. We went to Europe when Deputy Harkin was an MEP. If there is an emergency, people should go in and address it. Forget about environmentalists, laws and everything else; just drive in and get it sorted.

The first thing that needs to be done is down in Limerick. Generally, it is appropriate to start at the head of a river to get it sorted. Below where there was what I would call the spillover, it is blocked by trees. Unless they are ripped out, regardless of who is giving out, blocking or whatever, unless the trees are ripped out from one end to the other, an overflow for the Shannon is needed.

I question whether we need Ardnacrusha. This year, farmers have not cut meadow in most of the Callows. I have talked to them in Bornacoola in Leitrim, Roscommon and Longford and they have been snookered all year.

I believe the Minister of State should get the nine months' delay, but we will hold him accountable at the end. We should work together. As Deputy Martin Kenny said, the Deputies who are interested in this should get together, forget about the politics and get it sorted. One Sunday evening about a month ago, the Shannon disappeared automatically. What we mean by "disappear" is a drop of a couple of feet where the Callows are. Why did that happen? Who let the water go? Those are the questions. The Minister of State needs to be given the powers to crack the whip and ensure people are not left with their tongues out trying to save their houses and farms.

I also ask the Minister of State to ensure the levels are dropped. At the moment we are running at dangerous levels. Yesterday evening, the roads in Cloonown were flooded. If we keep allowing that, people will get frustrated. People are sick of hearing about nothing being done about the Shannon. I ask the Minister of State to concentrate on it. We will work with him on it. The Bill is a help but we all need to work together on this issue.

I invite the Minister of State to come to counties Roscommon and Galway. I looked at Lough Funshinagh a few years ago. Every type of guru has come to it and said what they would do measuring levels. Water is water; it comes down and we need to get it out. The OPW needs to go in and do the job. Local authorities have to give 10% of the cost but they do not have it and will not do it. There is no point in us codding ourselves. We have Correal and Glenamaddy turlough and I ask the Minister of State to come down and look at those. These problems are solvable and would let people live a normal life.

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