Paraic Brady (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Happy birthday to the Minster of State, Deputy Moran, or Boxer as he is known in Westmeath. I said when he was elected first that I was delighted to see the Boxer back. I really am delighted to see him back because the people of Athlone will always remember him as the man who put himself in a boat and took families out of flooded areas and houses. Unfortunately, when they went to vote the following year, they forgot about him. They did not forget about him this time. I am glad to see that because the Minister of State was hands-on at the time. He was the only one out there with the people. That is what counts.

I would now like to address a couple of matters. As the Minister of State is well aware, there was a scheme in Longford, Westmeath, Cavan and Leitrim called the Rinn and Blackwater scheme. The three local authorities that operated it looked after and maintained the Rinn River, the Black River and numerous other rivers. The group scheme was driven by the three local authorities in conjunction with the local councillors or farmers involved with the scheme. They verified the areas that were blocked as a result of fallen trees, silt banks or whatever. They knew where the problems were. That scheme was disbanded 12 years ago. Since then, we have had nothing but problems in the area the whole way from the Cavan border to Leitrim and on to Longford. It is very simple: we have maintained roads but we need to maintain rivers.

When a tree blocks a river, silt builds up. This causes the formation of a dam, which gives rise to flooding upstream. It is very simple. The rivers to which I refer are all tributaries that run into the River Shannon at some point or other. We must put the scheme back in place and we must give the power back to the councillors who were elected by the people and who know where the problems lie. Will the Minister of State put money into our local authorities? Will he invest it in areas where people had the foresight to know how a river needs to be maintained? Every river has to meander; everybody knows this. Somebody might say that we have to get in and clean rivers out, but we do not have to do so. We do, however, have to maintain rivers. It is very simple.

When ACRES was first introduced, it shut farmers off from letting cattle drink from rivers. Then farmers were advised to go and plant hedges along rivers. There was no maintenance of these hedges. Half of them ended up in rivers and gave rise to the creation dams. We have to think smart about this matter if we are going to move forward. We have to give the power back to either the farmer, through ACRES, TAMS or something else. In other words, where there is a river on a farmer's land, he or she must maintain it and the hedgerow running alongside. It is either that or we give responsibility to the local authorities and fund them accordingly.

Further back, there was one case in County Longford, in the village of Ballinalee, where farmers used to come on a yearly basis and remove gravel from a certain part of the local river. It was a silty gravel and they used it to maintain the roadways through their lands. All of a sudden, crayfish were found in the river and the farmers were told they were no longer allowed to remove the gravel. This has led to homes in the area being flooded. Which is more important, a crayfish or a family home? We have to get smart when it comes to this whole thing.

On draining of the River Shannon, let us call a spade a spade. The Environmental Protection Agency, the ESB, Waterways Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and An Taisce are involved. Who is really involved? The reality is that the Minister of State is in charge. The buck stops with the Minister of State. These bodies have to understand that the Minister of State is in charge, that the funding comes from his Department and that they must listen to him. They must listen for the betterment of all. If there is a spot in a river, for example, with the type of peatland that has caused the creation of banks in the River Shannon and if something needs to be removed, then it needs to be removed. If a blockage is leading to the flooding of both homes and areas in general, then we need to be smart and remove it.

I am glad to see the Minister of State back in this portfolio. In the past, he has been hands-on. He delivered previously and I know he will deliver in the future. I thank him again for his time here.