Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On the issue of maintenance, which I think Deputy McGrath raised as well, it is important that consent processes have to be gone through. As regards the broader issue of the increased number of rainfall events we are having at the moment, we need to look and are looking at this through the land use plan, which is critical. There are some good agriculture schemes in place, such as the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, that support landowners to look at a catchment management approach. We will have out shortly a new river basin plan, which will look at catchment management approaches. Critically, we need to look to nature for solutions in trying to address these problems. The point the Deputy raised about trying to put flood defences into individual properties is a very good one. It can certainly prevent inundation on small scales in some properties and it is worth looking at.

See this speech in context