John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh. I also welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate on flooding and the terrible difficulties seen across the country in recent days. It looks as if we will see more in the next few days because the weather forecast is not good.

I refer to the difficulties encountered in my part of the world, particularly on the lower parts of the River Nore. There was a very successful OPW flood relief scheme completed in Kilkenny city at great cost a number of years ago. However, it has resulted in transferring the effects of flooding to Thomastown and Inistioge. In Thomastown, where my office is located, the downstairs dwelling was flooded on Friday morning last. It was the worse flooding in 41 years. It seems the relief works in Kilkenny have led to worse problems for people in Thomastown and Inistioge.

I appreciate the OPW has a difficult job in overseeing flood relief schemes across the country, but I have never been able to receive a satisfactory response from it to queries I have raised, particularly with regard to Thomastown, an issue I have been raising with it for years. To be perfectly honest and blunt, there is far too much political interference at that level in how public money is spent. Senators from the Green Party have mentioned there is too much political interference at planning level, which might well be true. I do not see consistency in the actions of the OPW, so I would like to see a change in the way it carries out its work.

Apart from the rain, the biggest cause of flooding is the change in land use that has occurred throughout the country. Large parts of rural Ireland have been planted with trees and new drainage systems and such areas have seen much greater volumes of water coming to a point more rapidly than heretofore. That is leading to difficulties at those locations. Senator Butler mentioned Graiguenamanagh and Tinahinch, which experienced bad flooding last weekend. Recently, I met the chairman of Carlow County Council whose house in Loughlinbridge on the River Barrow is under two feet of water. There are significant difficulties throughout the country, not just west of the Shannon or in County Cork.

Senator Butler's proposal is the best one I have heard for a long time in the Seanad - that the Government should investigate some sort of initiative whereby people could protect their own dwellings. It is a very good idea and I would ask the Minister to examine it.

I also want to discuss the construction of new roads, especially motorways. We had a problem in Dunkitt on the edge of Waterford city where flooding has always been an issue. It experienced the worst flash flood in the country, with water rising above the roofs of cars. It only affected a small number of houses but they were badly damaged. The new Dublin-Waterford road is a welcome development but it appears that the construction work has redirected water resulting in a disaster for those in affected areas.

Much damage has been done to local roads also, as previous speakers have said. While local authority staff numbers have been reduced, I am aware there is machinery available to do the work that used to be done manually, such as cleaning drains and opening shores. That is no longer done but when it was carried out in the past, there was less damage to roads as a result. It should be resumed now.