John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

What is the sense in that? I propose that Bord na Móna take the water from the Shannon and flood the cut-away midlands bogs as wetlands, as habitats and as reserves, as a safety valve for flooding when it occurs. Can the Minister address the issue of Garryhinch reservoir, which we have pursued here for the past number of years? Garryhinch reservoir is a feasible and live proposal. It is a valid and sustainable proposal but Irish Water has rubbished it because it does not suit it. They want to build a pipeline from the Shannon direct to Dublin.That is short-sighted and it is stupid in the extreme. We need a reservoir to have redundant capacity, to address situations such as flooding and to have an overflow capacity. What if, as has already proven to be the case, there was contamination at source during periods of flooding? With floods, often there is contamination as a result of the presence of debris and sewerage. What then would be the position with the pipeline if the safety valve of a reservoir were not put in place?

On the other hand, in light of the weather extremes we are experiencing, droughts will occur. We must build in capacity so that we have redundant capacity for farming, families, factories and foreign direct investment. I am glad The Irish Timeshas supported my campaign in this regard. It reported that it is a fallacy to consider building an €800 million water pipeline from the Shannon without including the reservoir. I ask the Minister of State to address that and to assure the public that it is a live prospect, is still under consideration and is a matter that will be addressed by the next Government, not by Irish Water.

We must also be honest. When this project was first mooted, some of those who are now crying crocodile tears about the Shannon basin being flooded informed me that we would not get a drop of their water. Where is the sense in that? Can they not look beyond the end of their noses, their political catchment areas and their electoral constituencies in order to see what is best for the common good? We must take a holistic approach. I do not agree with the Taoiseach and the Government that there should not be a single Shannon authority. We must at least have everyone working to common purpose. We must have a catchment approach, from source to sea. I urge the Minister of State to actively pursue the reinstatement of agencies such as the Barrow Drainage Board. We need to re-establish such entities because in the past they facilitated co-operation among the local authorities along the expanse of the river, from Laois down to Waterford, in Carlow, Kildare, Offaly and everywhere in between. As a result of such co-operation, the issues of bank maintenance and dredging used to be addressed. Outdoor staff from the local authorities maintained the culverts and drains and ensured that shores remained unblocked. We have stopped all that kind of work in a rush to lay off local authority staff and move towards privatisation. Who now has responsibility to keep shores, culverts and tributaries clear? Flooding is often caused by man-made impediments, such as bridges and weirs not being maintained and culverts and shores not being kept open and cleaned. We all have a responsibility in this regard. We have got to stop pretending. One's heart goes out to the families which had to endure this all through Christmas and into the new year. How stressful it must have been. Only for the intervention of volunteers and great organisations, such as the fire service and the Civil Defence, people would certainly have been far worse off. That said, there is scope for improved co-operation between the local authorities. Some parts of the country were not affected at all or not as badly affected. I believe they could have deployed fire tenders, Civil Defence personnel and pumps to the areas worse affected. We must have a little more joined-up thinking.

This problem is here to stay unless we adopt a sustainable, long-term strategic response. Dredging, the erection of defences and drainage alone will not do. Climate change is here. We have proof of it. It is not all down to nature. Man has played a role in this and we can at least interfere positively. However, there is no point in Bord na Móna doing one thing, the ESB doing the opposite and Irish Water stating it has nothing to do with it.