Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to acknowledge the assistance of my friend and colleague Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice, who is in the Visitors' Gallery with a representative of the Carrick-on-Shannon Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. John Dunne, who has corresponded with the Minister of State on behalf of the Carrick-on-Shannon Chamber of Commerce. I will read out some of the relevant sections of the letter received by the Minister of State, and I would be grateful if the Minister of State responded to them.

I received a briefing from Fianna Fáil, which I will not read into the record because it is not overly complimentary to the Minister of State, with whom I get along well on a personal basis, although those involved are simply making political points. They call on the Minister of State to see to it that the Government supports affected property owners by ensuring adequate information transfer between the Office of Public Works and the insurance industry. This would help homeowners to access home insurance after flooding issues have been rectified. We suggest that the €15 million humanitarian relief package is unlikely to be enough, given the scale of the catastrophe.

There is another question for the Minister of State to address in the document. Has any progress been made in progressing major flood defence systems throughout the country? I have in mind the repair of flood defences in Cork, Galway, Waterford and the Shannon region which were damaged during the last storms in 2014. Again, the Minister of State can clarify the matter, but I understand that the relevant budget has been underspent this year by some €14.5 million. At least, that is what those involved tell me. I imagine the Minister of State will be able to answer those questions adequately.

We must not forget the upper Shannon. All of the discussions until now have been about what has happened on the lower Shannon from Athlone into the two lakes, Lough Ree and Lough Derg, and down into Limerick. However, there has been serious flooding in my capital town of Carrick-on-Shannon, as well as Leitrim Village, some four miles from Drumshanbo. Much of this was outlined in the letter sent to the Minister of State on 18 January. A number of proposals were put forward, but I will single out one or two in particular. The ESB has been given responsibility for the maintenance of Lough Allen. The ESB maintains the level at 48.15 m between 1 October and 1 April. Normally the level is 48.15 m, but the proposal is that Lough Allen would be closed for navigation purposes between 1 October and 1 April. This would allow for any flooding to be absorbed by the lough. From October through to December - it happened again in January - the level in Lough Allen increased by 6 ft. It went from 48.15 m to 51.5 m or 51.8 m. As a direct result of the water being allowed to go over the sluice gates - the sluice gates were shut - Leitrim Village and Carrick-on-Shannon, in particular, were severely affected. Mr. Dunne has pointed out in the letter that the town of Carrick-on-Shannon has lost approximately €1.5 million in business. That is a vast amount of money by any standards, but particularly for a county such as Leitrim with a relatively low population - Carrick-on-Shannon is the least populated county town in the country. The Minister of State will understand the devastation that it has created, especially for small businesses.

I would be grateful if the Minister of State got his officials to deal with this letter as a matter of urgency. The chamber has put forward seven points covering what can be done to alleviate flooding in future in the Carrick-on-Shannon and Roosky areas.