Seanad debates

Thursday, 4 November 2021

Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response.In case I forget to say it, I fully agree that if we manage to get this legislation through, it has to be very carefully managed. I accept that. Listening to the Minister of State and Senator Paul Daly, it is extraordinary the amount of money that has been invested in flood relief from 1995 right up to now. There is a serious commitment from the Government to continue that, and that must be acknowledged. One shudders to think, if we had not done that work, the consequences we would have had in this country in recent years.

I thank Senator Boylan, who spoke first, for a very valuable contribution. I will have no difficulty working with her on this issue. She is right that sometimes we get public consultation wrong. I fully agree with her. I very much endorse what she said about the way we do public consultation. It is really important that people get into back gardens and say:

Look. This is what we mean. It might not be as it is coming out in Meath or wherever. We will explain it to you this way.

I know that some of Senator Boylan's fellow Sinn Féin Oireachtas Members have been involved with a Bill. We commenced this work in 2016 and 2017, when I was a Deputy. Unfortunately, when the Government fell, the Bill fell. That is why we are back where we are today.

I also thank Senator Carrigy for his very valid contribution and his colleagues for their support. I repeat that this is work everybody should do together. If we have to make some amendments or changes, we should do that.

To clarify, one of the problems we need to understand with dredging is that, down through the years, the silt and peat have taken away valuable space in the river. That is the reality. We need to take that away. Now that the Bord na Móna areas are not really operational, we need to look at taking that peat and silt away because that will automatically generate extra space. I have not got the figures yet, but I know a huge amount of peat and silt has built up in the river around Lanesborough and places like that. Senator Carrigy will be aware of that. It has been shocking there for years.

The other point we need to bring on board is the extraordinary damage that has been done to our flora, fauna, wildlife and birdlife. They have been decimated along the River Shannon and we need in our new plan, if we get it through, to be able to take that on board, to protect all that again and to bring it back in many respects. Floodwaters do serious damage in that regard.

I will not labour proceedings any more. I thank all the Members for being here to discuss this Bill. I really appreciate the fact that we are now able to move the Bill on and I look forward to discussing it with them all. Thank you, Chair, for your forbearance, and I thank the staff, as usual, for their help.

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