Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris. My colleague, Senator Martin Conway, will be delighted to hear me make representations to the Minister of State to have the bridge in Ennistymon fixed. Perhaps he might visit the bridge on his visit to the town tomorrow. I made several representations to the Senator on the matter on behalf of people in my area. The problem, which is minor, has been ongoing for several years and I hope the Minister of State will look at it tomorrow, with a view to having it rectified before the 2015 tourism season commences.

The ongoing work on flooding, including the required mapping project, is very important. The Government has shown great commitment to dealing with the problem of flooding, as did previous Governments of all colours. There is nothing as bad as one's house being flooded unexpectedly or in the middle of the night. The Seanad debated this issue in February following the worst flooding in some parts of the country for 100 years. The debate took place during a nationwide emergency and €17 million was committed to address the problem in the week in question.

It is also good to debate the issue when we are not in the middle of the crisis. Thankfully, while we had severe weather conditions in recent weeks, we did not have major flooding. I propose to use my time to reflect on what is being done and what needs to be done. The Minister of State has clearly indicated that money will not be spent in areas where flooding occurs as a result of the rezoning of land in flood plains. If this were the only measure he were to take on flooding in his term, I would singularly commend him. Authoritative local opinion, including the views of officials of local authorities and An Bord Pleanála, has been disregarded in too many places in my locality and elsewhere in the country, with the result that housing developments are regularly flooded.

We still have a major problem with insurance companies refusing to provide insurance cover for houses that have been flooded previously. Carrick-on-Suir has one of the most successful flood mitigation projects in the country. The second most successful project is about to be completed in Clonmel, which also lies on the River Suir. Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel were both destroyed in the 1990s as a result of flooding. I related a story during a previous debate about receiving a call from a cousin at 6 a.m. to attend the house of another cousin, since deceased. When we arrived on a dark morning in January 1995, the water was up to our waists in the kitchen and we carried out our cousin's belongings. This incident has stuck in my mind because it demonstrates to me how important it is that Governments, irrespective of which political parties are involved, deal with this issue as urgently as possible.

The late Hugh Coveney visited Carrick-on-Suir within two days of that flooding event and we set in train a flood mitigation project. The town has successfully withstood flooding for the past five years, including in January and February when the worst floods on the River Suir for more than 100 years occurred.

This is proof positive that it is possible to deal with these issues. There are a number of other things we can do outside of infrastructure changes and mechanical fixes. One involves afforestation. Currently, the rate of afforestation in the country, at under 10%, is the lowest in Europe. This day last week, Deputy Andrew Doyle, Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, launched a report on land usage. Integral to that was the need to encourage the agricultural community to increase levels of afforestation. Despite this, there is still a reluctance in farming circles to use lands for afforestation. It needs to be continuously encouraged as a solution, by virtue of the root infrastructure of trees, for the retention of water on land.

Re-afforestation is another big issue. I learned from Senator Comiskey, who being engaged in private business in this area is well versed in the forestry industry, that the roots of trees can now be eradicated while the trees are being cut down. An acid formula can be put into the root of the tree by the saw being used to cut the tree down. I did not know this and I am sure the Minister did not know this either. This means the fallow period is reduced. We need to get that message out there and we need to encourage more afforestation so that we do not have the same runoff from land into water, which we had previously, caused by less trees being on the land.

Following recent flooding, the systems in place by the Department of Social Protection are very much welcome across the country. Immediately after a flooding crisis, there are a number of services available to affected people. These include the provision of replacement clothes, food and furniture, funding for electrical equipment replacement and major housing repair. That is welcome but it is after the event. We should work towards preventing the event.

This week, at the committee on the environment, a presentation was made by the Irish Planning Institute. I have heard presentations by the institute at various events across the country, including when I was a councillor. Development on flood plains and how to prevent it is coming centre stage. Despite the existing legislation, we should constantly keep an eye on this. Development plans have to go to the Department before they are ratified. Changes have been made and some development plans have not been ratified by the Minister. If memory serves me correctly, the last time this happened it was in relation to the Monaghan County Council development plan. A greater responsibility should be placed on local elected representatives and a re-embellishing of the necessity to ensure flood plains are not interfered with.

During the terrible flooding in Carrick-on-Suir in the early 1990s, the late Noel Davern was a junior Minister in the Department of Agriculture. At the time, I put a proposal to him for a payment to farmers down river to set aside land. This would be for farmers in tidal water areas such as Carrick-on-Suir. I requested the Minister to look at this as a mitigating system. The late Minister, Mr. Davern, who was a jovial individual and with whom I got on very well, took it as a throw-away remark. I was extremely serious about it and I am still serious about it. We are channelling water and forcing it under bridges. The bridge in Carrick-on Suir was built before Columbus discovered America. That will tell us how old it is. That bridge sustains unbelievable pressure during flooding. Previously that water went into land and flooded land, naturally, down river. One half or a quarter of the money that was spent in Carrick-on-Suir is all that would be required to give the people who owned that land a set-aside payment. I ask the Minister to keep this in mind when dealing with projects resulting from this national survey. It is not a mad or half-baked idea. To echo the Minister of State's opening statement, it is something that I have discussed with the local people such as fishermen and farmers who own the land. It is something that can be done as a mitigating methodology for the future.