Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All politics is local but, unfortunately, flooding is also local. We have had that experience in County Clare. Senator Byrne referred to climate change and now we have a name for it. In 1974, we went on a family holiday in Ballybunion, County Kerry. After three summers, eight days into our holiday my father brought us home because there was 3 ft. of rain on the street in the middle of August. This happened 40 years ago and we now have a name for it but it has been happening for quite some time. I was born in Newcastle West, which was wiped out three or four years ago in a flood. It was probably caused by the deforestation of Barnagh, which led to water hitting the mountains and hills much faster and coming into the middle of the town. I am familiar with the river in Newcastle West, having grown up there. The wall is 20 ft. deep before one gets to the bottom of the river. The volume of water coming down was phenomenal. I am 53 years of age and I never saw flooding occur until three or four years ago.

When I was mayor of Clare, Ennis town and its environs suffered major flooding in November 2009. Some ten years previously, in December 1999, the OPW built flood prevention walls in the town as part of a phased flood protection scheme. Can the Minister of State inform the House when phase 2 will be completed? It is now late September and, after one of the wettest summers on record and with the ground saturated, there is concern that we will have another problem this year. Any observation I make today will be constructive.

The O'Garney River in Sixmilebridge burst its banks in 2009 resulting in the bridge, built in the 1600s, being closed due to serious concerns that it could be swept away. This led to the town being divided in two and there were serious hardships for the inhabitants. The Minister of State recently visited the town and met a colleague of mine, Councillor John Crowe, who requested that the river be dragged and widened in places. Cost-effective measures would ensure the flooding encountered in recent years could be avoided. Councillor Crowe has a supermarket in the middle of the town and his shop became a tributary for the O'Garney River during the flooding period in 2009. The river flowed through the middle of the shop for five days.

Rail links between Limerick city and Galway city were closed for many years owing to flooding at Ballycar, Newmarket-on-Fergus. I will not name the officials, as my colleague has done, but they spoke recently with the area committee and the Shannon area councils and said the OPW would not be funding any measures and that it is a problem for Iarnróid Éireann. In Shannon, some insurance companies refuse to insure residents even though the town has never flooded and we have adequate flood prevention measures, with 18 or 20 pump stations at work all the time. Some genius has come up with the idea that they will not insure residents because Shannon is below sea level.

I appreciate that Departments try to protect their budgets and will not spend any money if it is the responsibility of another Department. The taxpayer does not care because it is a problem when it affects the taxpayer. Moneys are collected by the Department of Finance and distributed to the relevant Departments. The Government's income has been cut back to levels seen ten years ago and we must ensure this matter does not fall between Departments when it comes to taking the necessary measures.

Is it possible for the Department to seek an update from Clare County Council and the ESB? In 2009, we were fighting floods on two fronts. One was in the town of Ennis and there was also a flood on the River Shannon. There was a danger that the Parteen Weir and the Ardnacrusha dam was going to break. This caused huge problems in the south Clare area.

Senator Clune referred to the problems in Cork regarding the ESB and its dam further upriver. I attended a meeting in Clare in 2009 when ESB officials told us that at noon they would release X million gallons of water. They told us we could do what we wanted and were getting up to walk out but, in fairness to the county manager, Tom Coughlan, he called them back and asked about the impact of releasing millions of gallons of water down the river. He asked what would happen five miles down the river. That action prevented a catastrophe further down the river and onwards into Limerick city.

Do we have a Minister of State to take full responsibility for flooding? Perhaps we should anoint the Minister of State. It does not just concern the OPW, it is an interdepartmental problem across a large number of Departments and agencies. Engagement with the ESB is critical because it holds millions of gallons of water at a given time, in the summer and in winter. The ESB is a critical part of controls we can put in place to prevent flooding in many areas. It is important the Department is engaged with the ESB. I have no doubt the Minister of State is taking a cohesive, integrated approach to solving the problem.