Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the outset I welcome the Minister of State, who is really on top of this issue and has moved quickly within days of his appointment. That is absolutely admirable and typical of him. I know he is genuinely empathetic and concerned about the people there and trying to resolve it. I appreciate that. Please God, knowing his form, he will ultimately succeed in resolving it. I again join my colleague, Senator Kyne, in congratulating Senator Dolan and Senator Murphy on their persistence in this matter. I concur that Senator Dolan raises this regularly in our parliamentary party meetings. I also acknowledge the contributions of our Independent colleagues, and Senator Boyhan's visit there.

I know a lot of people around this area. My mother-in-law was actually born there and her brother is one of the affected people, Edward John Beatty and his wife Theresa and the Beatty families, they are all related. Councillor Laurence Fallon and his lovely Cavan wife - he showed great judgment in that department - are particular friends of mine for a long time. I know that community well. It covers the townlands of Rahara, Ballagh, Lisfelim, Inchiroe - Senators Dolan and Murphy will correct my pronunciation - Gortree, Carrickbeg, Carrick, Kildurney, and Lysterfield. They are very beautiful names but that is not much good if you are living in a flooded location.

It seems that since 2016 the turlough, which traditionally would have dried up, is not draining as it did previously. The water levels are currently at their highest recorded level. They peaked at new recorded heights in 2022. I gather, as was cited by Senator Murphy, that there have been objections to the proposed solution of piping out the water. In fact, the irony, paradox or conundrum here is that the very objective of the objections is not served. The actual flooding has destroyed the wildlife, the fauna, the natural environment and biodiversity of the area. Contrary to achieving some sort of environmentally friendly objective, those seeking to prevent the draining will achieve the opposite. It is totally perverse that they are preventing the draining from being done even though it would benefit biodiversity, natural life and the beauty of the area. We are in that space but I urge the Minister and the Attorney General to see where we can go from here. The idea of taking the water underground to the Shannon is a reasonable temporary solution.

I should have mentioned when I was naming people who live in the locality that my wife's first cousin Mary Lyons and her husband Rory had to move to Athlone and leave the area. I see Senator Murphy nodding; he would have known them. They had to up and go to Athlone, which was dreadful. We are urging the Minister of State to go on doing what he is trying to do, namely to resolve the matter, talk with the Attorney General and look at the legalities around it. It is a pity the piping of the water underground to the Shannon is being prevented. One of the other paradoxes is that there are many areas in the country that in certain circumstances could do with this water. There is no logic in the position of halting it. I see how this is all very difficult for the Minister of State because the courts are an independent entity, as they should be. It is quite a conundrum, quite a circular situation if somebody goes to the courts to block it. One would have to appeal to the so-called environmentalists to desist or withdraw their objections. They have a weird concept of the environment if they allow one environment to be completely destroyed. I would not be optimistic but we can only hope they could be reasoned with as well.It is a question of an engineering or legal solution or a combination of solutions. I do not know. I was down there recently and I met with Councillor Laurence Fallon and Bernie, his wife, who is from Crosskeys in Cavan. We sat and we discussed it. The water was coming up quite close to them even then and it may be worse now. It is a horrendous situation. I just want to lend my voice. It is a lovely part of Ireland and I know all the people there.

I appreciate and am very impressed by my constituency colleagues. The people there are well represented, given how the two people in front of me are taking this matter. The rest of us need not come in at all, but it is good to support them.