Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to debate the issue of flooding in south Galway and along the Shannon Callows. The recent storms and associated floods have caused huge difficulty and hardship for many people residing in these areas. I spoke to a number of affected people who expressed to me they cannot remember any storm as significant as the one experienced in the past two weeks. Only for the fact that some people put measures in place when advised of weather predictions, things could have been much worse in the area.

This week, farmers and householders throughout south and east Galway areas are trying to deal with the fallout of the storms and the deluge of rain which fell over the past two weeks. They are genuinely fearful of the capacity of the weather to cause flood waters similar to the disastrous levels seen in south Galway in particular in November 2009, which destroyed parts of the county and caused much pain and anguish for families living in the affected areas. It was so bad last week that thousands of acres of farmland were under water in the Shannon Callows area because the Shannon rose 6 ft. above navigation level in the second half of December and the early days of January as a result of the storm. In the south Galway areas of Ardrahan, Ballinderreen and Kilcolgan, up to ten local roads were impassable and ten houses came under pressure as a result of rising water levels.

The Office of Public Works has written to city and county managers in coastal counties indicating that it will accept applications under its minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection schemes to repair and build flood defences and coastal protection structures, but this is not enough. The people living along the Shannon Callows and in Ardrahan, Ballinderreen and Kilcolgan need more funding for the repair of flood defences. They need further provision of flood defences and funding now to clean and maintain the Ballinderreen and Kilternan water channel. The problem is that water is not getting to the sea with ease, and without funding for clearing and maintaining this channel the Office of Public Works will not address the problem. Flooding in the area will continue while the Department chooses to ignore it.

People in east and south Galway feel very let down by the Department and are bitterly disappointed. This is understandable, because without taking the measures I have indicated we will not be able to protect family farms or homes in the area and stop the hardship being caused for these people. We need uniformity within the various agencies, such as the National Parks and Wildlife Services, fisheries agencies, the ESB and Waterways Ireland, when it comes to these issues so that somebody is in control and coming up with solutions for the people in the areas I mentioned. We need basic remedial action now and a proactive approach so that we act responsibly as a Government in helping the people living in these areas whose quality of life is dictated by the weather.