John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the Kings River in Callan, County Kilkenny. I spoke last night to my colleague and friend, Councillor Joe Lyons, a representative in that area. The community in Callan is at a loss about what to do about the levels of silt that have built up between the two bridges in the town. It has reached a point where the riverbed has reached the same height as the riverbank. Kilkenny County Council published a detailed strategic flooding assessment in April 2019. A couple of years ago, the council provided €75,000 for the river. That money was used to clean out the river and riverbanks while doing nothing for the riverbed, which is the main cause of the problem. The council has essentially told Councillor Lyons that responsibility for the riverbed lies solely with Waterways Ireland.Waterways Ireland has carried out tests and reports, hemmed and hawed and not got anywhere with it. It has said that finance is the biggest issue, that it cannot afford to desilt the river because it would cost €365,000 to do it in the first place and that if it were done, it would have to be done again in a couple of years' time.

Councillor Lyons told me that the community is at a loss as to what to do. I suggest to the Leader that it would be timely if we could have a debate about Waterways Ireland and, more importantly, perhaps a wider debate about what we are doing to protect the rivers on this island, North and South. We must consider what we can do to make sure rivers do not get to a point where one cannot see where the riverbed is anymore and one can almost walk across it. It would be timely to do that. I know we will not be able to have that debate next week but perhaps we could look at it when we return in September.