Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for attending our debate on this subject. He has kept himself apprised of recent events, but I wish to discuss history. Almost to the day 100 years ago, my grandfather, Neddy Kavanagh, moved 300 yards from where he lived on Mill Street in Carrick-on-Suir to higher ground on Greystone Street because he had been flooded for three consecutive years. When people tell me flooding is a recent phenomenon due to climate change, etc., I remind them of my grandfather and that the problem has been with us for a long time. We have found different ways of dealing with it. I am glad to say my experience of the way all Governments have handled the issue has been positive.

In August I was on holiday in Clonakilty. I left it on a Monday morning to head for Kinsale, doing my patriotic duty and spending my holiday money in Ireland. That night Clonakilty was flooded. I spoke to Senator Kathryn Reilly's colleague, the town's current mayor, Councillor Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin, the next day. The town was devastated in the middle of the summer. Although no rain had fallen on the previous day, a deluge destroyed the town, the second time it had happened this year. Within hours houses and shops can be flooded without warning.

In November 1996 I was awoken at 6 a.m. by a cousin who asked whether I would go to a house by the River Suir and remove my deceased cousin Nelly Allen's furniture. We reached the house in the dark to find the water level up to our waist. Within 24 hours the late Minister Hugh Coveney visited Carrick-on-Suir with the then county manager and senior officials from the water unit. His visit started the provision of flood walls in the town, but the process took many years to complete. There were public consultations and many local concerns, including my own. I had been a fisherman since I was a child and lived within the sound of the weir. The concern was that the town would be blocked off from the river and that we would not be able to see it, its walkways, etc. However, the walls were built and during this year's highest rainfall I stood on a bridge in the town that was built before Columbus discovered America and saw that the town was safe. No one was worried about flooding. Flood prevention can work.

Clonmel is 13 miles from where I live and works there are nearing completion. A good job has been done in a difficult scenario. The river splits in the town, presenting many difficulties. Carrick-on-Suir is a tidal town in that the tide moves 1.5 miles upstream from it. This creates difficulties, but Ireland's engineering companies have mastered the art of dealing with flooding.

I hope there is enough money to continue flood prevention works. The Minister of State alluded to this issue. In our response to flooding we have not recognised the importance of deforestation. I live in the countryside where deforestation has allowed water to enter the river basin more quickly than ever before. For many years I fished for salmon and one would not change a lure for two days after heavy rainfall. Now one must change it within six or seven hours because water is not being contained by tree roots. Will the Minister of State comment on this issue? We can do something about it, for example, by encouraging reafforestation. When forests are cut down, the land is usually left to lie fallow for two, three or four years before it is reset. That wait is unnecessary.

I hope the prevention work continues. I know what it is like to be flooded. When I discussed the issue with the mayor of Clonakilty, I empathised with him. I urge the Minister of State to proceed with the work under way and commend him for his efforts to date.