Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Members that neither my secretary nor I nor anyone working for me ever received such a telephone call, thanks be to God.

I welcome the news of the deal done yesterday evening by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on fishery quota, whereby there will be an increase of 10% in the whitefish quota and of 8% in respect of prawns. This is good news in particular for those fishermen who own smaller vessels and are trying to eke out a living in difficult circumstances off the coast. The other point is discards have been done away with. I always have called for the abolition of discards because it is a waste of perfectly good fish and there is no point in discarding them, as they can be brought to market and used.

In recent days and again this morning, a number of colleagues have mentioned the issue of flooding. Now the floods appear to have started to recede, it is time to give consideration to putting in place a national drainage scheme along the Shannon, as well as for some smaller rivers. I refer in particular to rivers in the part of the country from which I come, such as the Owenmore in County Sligo, as well as a number of other rivers in counties Sligo and Leitrim. It now is time for a drainage scheme to be put in place. I have been contacted in recent days by many farmers whose lands are under water and who have lost considerable amounts of fodder. Moreover, some of them have been obliged to move their cattle out of their sheds. This is a terrible time for those farmers and for the small businesses that are affected. In my native county of Leitrim, Carrick-on-Shannon and Leitrim village are badly affected. Thankfully, all the towns are open for business, but, as Christmas approaches, it is difficult for those people to be able to conduct their business. It is time to give real consideration to undertaking a complete drainage scheme along the Shannon and the other rivers affected by drainage issues. I believe it is past time to put in place such a scheme.