Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Ní féidir liom tacú leis an mBille seo. I absolutely acknowledge the intent behind it. It has been introduced by my good friend and colleague. However, I cannot support it. As has been said, the very fact that we are debating an amendment to a 90-year-old Act governing Ardnacrusha speaks volumes about the urgent need to develop a whole system plan for the Shannon catchment. The Shannon is one of Europe's most significant Natura 2000 river systems and deserves to be treated as such. Since the foundation of the State, it has been altered, exploited and modified, and will soon be drawn on to provide water for the greater Dublin area. While Ardnacrusha was at the time the biggest infrastructural project in the world, and provided for many decades for most of the country's electricity needs, thereby revolutionising and transforming the country, I agree with a previous contributor that it is perhaps time to look at it again and consider the issues it has caused, in particular the ecological damage for migrating fish, most notably eels, lamprey and salmon. The proposed Bill, if enacted, could add further to that ecological damage.

I recognise the huge challenges presented to farmers by summer flooding on the Shannon Callows. I believe that a collaborative source-to-sea plan for the catchment, its lakes and tributaries, can be found if the Government chooses to lead on the issue through the water action plan and the national nature restoration plan.

We must recognise the need to build in climate modelling, the needs of the breeding waders on Lough Ree, overwintering wild foul on the flood plains and other sites, and migrating fish, as well as farmers and landowners. We need to take the opportunity to restore the catchment and estuary and to reward landowners for being a part of the solution.

As has been stated, it is time to consider the decommissioning of the Ardnacrusha power plant. It has served our country well but now produces a tiny proportion of the State's electricity needs. I know a figure of 2% has been put out. It is probably less than that. It is perhaps as low as 0.1%. It could be wound down and put forward for UNESCO world heritage status, as a marvel of industrial engineering at the time. It is important to put this question. While the ESB has over the past 30 years tried to improve fish passage at Parteen Weir, funds the moving of eels from Lough Ree further downstream of Ardnacrusha and runs a salmon hatchery, it is still not enough to help these critically endangered species, which are under multiple threats.

I share the concerns of Salmon Watch Ireland regarding the water abstraction project by Uisce Éireann. This Bill could further add to the problems for many species and I am not convinced it will help landowners either. The corncrake has long since gone from Shannon Callows, with the last breeding pair recorded in 2014. Mr. Will O'Connor of Ecofact has put forward solutions that could benefit from the barrier mitigation programme, which is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Despite being constructed long before a Natura environmental impact assessment, EIA, it should not be exempt from such processes. Predating the legislation should not exempt it. On 24 November, Mr. O'Connor reported that the ESB was abstracting water from the Parteen regulating weir and diverting it to the hydroelectric station, and that this practice has serious environmental consequence for fish passage because it attracts fish out of the main river channel. This practice and repair works to the 100-year-old concrete dams are taking place without environmental assessment. Case C-204/2024 of the European Court of Justice found that Ireland had not correctly implemented the legal obligations that should apply to the Shannon scheme.

This Bill proposes potentially more ecological damage to the integrity of the catchment. Alarm bells rang, particularly when I saw the issue of dredging. I ask for the Department to give an update as to when it will begin the process of reviewing the Arterial Drainage Act, a key commitment in the 2024 water action plan.

The Shannon, as a major European river, deserves better and to be treated as the important river that it is. It deserves a collaborative catchment plan that works for nature, people and communities. The CFRAM study is the basis for integrated catchment planning and the Shannon flood risk group, chaired by the OPW, leads the multi-agency approach. That is an important approach. We need not to look at this by tampering with a piecemeal approach to 90-year-old legislation. Perhaps a brand-new piece of legislation is required to govern the Shannon catchment and we need a plan in place to manage it for nature, communities and farmers.