Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. His visit gives me the opportunity to wish him well and show the hand of friendship to work with him.

Where I come from in Portumna, on the banks of the Shannon with the bridge, flooding is a huge issue and has a huge impact on our lives. I have no doubt my colleague in Fine Gael, Senator Murphy, will be talking about the south Galway floods when he speaks and, therefore, I will focus solely on the gate in Portumna under the CFRAM. A gate was designed in line with the CFRAM programme but, as was the case when the Minister of State was previously in office, I am still calling for our gate. If we do not have the gate, it means Portumna is under siege. In 2009 and 2016, luckily, thanks to the good work of the OPW and the ESB, we managed to avoid catastrophe. The N65, which goes through Portumna, is the main artery through to Rosslare. If the water ever breaks the white line on that road, that means it is impassable. It also cuts off the communities of north Tipperary and north Offaly from being able to come to us. If the Minister of State could talk to his capital team as to where the design or plan for that gate is, that would be greatly appreciated.

I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the flooding that can take place coming into the summer on the Shannon Callows. I have no doubt he is very familiar with it. Last summer was an absolute disaster for us. A great deal of fodder was lost on the Shannon Callows. It was very unfortunate. I listened to Senator Malcolm Byrne speak about how funding was distributed when it was brought through from the Department of agriculture. If a cut was taken off the silage, funding was given because a glass of water could be seen on top of it, but lads who had not let their cattle in to graze could not see the water under it. Some farmers were getting it, therefore, and others were not, but when the callows are flooded, they are all flooded equally. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that if a weather alert is coming where it looks like there will be an intense raining spell over the summer, whoever is in charge of the tap in Ardnacrusha will turn it on a little bit more. People always talk about navigation being the number one issue during the summer and we do not want to lose our wildlife on the Shannon Callows either, but there has to be a mechanism here.Waterways Ireland does excellent work but, at the end of the day, we have to think not only about our wildlife habitats but also about how the farmers will supply their stock over the winter months. The Shannon Callows provide a huge number of opportunities for the farmers to salvage some hay.

Finally, I will focus on Storm Éowyn. When I think about Storm Éowyn, I think about all the trees that Coillte and farmers have lost on their own lands. As regards a lot of those lands where the trees are down, I was talking to Coillte the other day and it has three years' harvesting on the ground. That is what is down at the moment. When I think about that, I think about Portumna and all the trees that are down across all the various drains that are part of the drainage system that brings the water to the River Shannon from the surrounding lands. That will start backing up. We must ensure there is a cross-departmental urgency placed on how we will salvage the trees from a drainage perspective. I know this is not under the Minister of State's remit but I know he can bring to bear on this how we will support Coillte to ensure that it makes sure that its drainage arteries are cleared within its own areas. I do not know if it has the mechanism, the manpower or the machinery to do this. If it does not, when we do the Shannon raises on one side, it will be backed up on the other side and we will maroon people in the centre. I am not unique in that regard; that will happen in lots of other areas right down along the Shannon basin.

I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck. I also thank all his staff who work for him at the local offices because they provide us with immense support. Our challenges, however, are great.