Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish him well with his portfolio. I welcome the debate on this issue.It is an important issue that needs to be debated, so I thank the Green Party for tabling the motion.

I agree with much of what the party's Senators have said. There are areas where flooding can travel upstream but, equally, there have been instances in the past where changes have resulted in large-scale flooding and landslides, one of which I will outline. It happened in west County Mayo on the Killary Harbour, where, years ago, many people had problems with the overgrazing of the mountains. The overgrazing of the mountains meant floods were coming too quickly down the mountains, so people decided to reduce the grazing, with the result that when grass and heather grew on the mountains, they held the water to such an extent that there were landslides. There was a huge landslide on the Louisburgh side of Killary Harbour that demolished the bridge in Leckanvy. That issue should be taken into account in the context of some of the proposals in the motion.

Nevertheless, there are areas where the water can be held back, as I see in my area, Castlebar, where there are three lakes, namely, Lannagh, Bilberry and Islandeady. If a proper weir system were put in place, it could hold back the flow of the water that leads eventually into the River Moy after going through Lough Conn or Lough Cullin. This is a typical example of where the water in the winter could be kept at the summer level. If all these initiatives were put in place, there would have to be some responsibility. It could be the responsibility of the local authority or the OPW but we cannot depend on the community to advise and check the weather forecast to decide whether the weir should be opened and the water let flow downstream before the floods come. There has to be somebody to plan the issue and take responsibility for letting floods go when necessary and for closing the weirs or taking charge of whatever other systems might be in place to hold back the water upstream. Theyshould be put in place and manned.

I thank the Minister of State and his predecessor, Kevin Boxer Moran, for the flood defences that have been promised and put in place. An issue was raised by a former colleague of ours in the House, Michelle Mulherin, in respect of severe flooding in Crossmolina and Ballina. The Minister of State might give us an update on those two schemes. I presume they are well advanced and we will see the fruits of all the planning that has been put in place for them. Business people, and the local people in general, suffered great hardship arising from the flooding in both Crossmolina and Ballina. In any regard, I wish the Minister of State well.

Greater deployment of the Defence Forces is needed to deal with sea erosion. A great job was done in Lahinch, County Clare, which was one of the most fantastic jobs I have seen. Between the golf course and the bay, some magnificent walkways have been built. It is a wonderful feature that could be rolled out, I have no doubt, in other counties as well. It has been done to the highest standard.Perhaps it will be needed further down the road in Doonbeg, although there have been some objections and I am not au faitwith them. I congratulate everyone involved in the Lahinch project.

I welcome the motion put forward by the Green Party. Without doubt, it contains proposals the Minister of State can take on board.