I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter. Doris, Gareth, Dennis, Alex, Barra, Eunice, Ciarán, Ashley, Éowyn and Chandra were some of the fiercest storms to batter our country in the past ten years. They brought strong winds, rain and flooding, and left a trail of destruction behind them. In light of recent severe weather events, and the flooding we have again witnessed across the country, particularly in my county of Laois, will the Government develop and implement a national river management strategy to mitigate the impact of future extreme weather events? In recent months, communities have experienced devastating flooding with homes damaged, businesses disrupted, farmland rendered unusable and families left dealing with uncertainty, stress and significant financial loss. Portarlington experienced major flooding events in 2008, 2017 and 2020. A detailed engineering assessment was announced in August 2020 to identify flood alleviation measures and prepare design documentation. However, progress since then has been far too slow. Residents and business owners are increasingly frustrated. Communities living with constant flood risk cannot continue to endure delay after delay. Last weekend, Botley Lane in Portarlington was flooded yet again, a situation that has become all too familiar. I welcome recent indications that flood defence schemes are to be treated as critical infrastructure under upcoming emergency planning legislation. The Portarlington flood relief scheme must be included in any fast-track process. In Mountmellick, areas such as Manor Road continue to flood in times of heavy rainfall. I welcome confirmation that its flood relief scheme, with a budget of €20.8 million, has progressed to planning and construction will begin in early 2027. Residents of Mountmellick have waited many years for progress since the significant flooding of November 2017. There is genuine fear every time heavy rain is forecast. Elsewhere across the county, flooding concerns have also been raised. A pitch at The Rock GAA club, which I hope the Minister of State will have an opportunity to visit when he comes to County Laois, is completely waterlogged and flooded over. Hard work, on a community and voluntary basis, went into maintaining and getting those pitches to where they are today. The club adjoins a river, which is the reason this flooding is taking place. Local examples illustrate a broader national issue. At present, responsibility for flood mitigation, river maintenance and drainage is spread across multiple agencies, including the OPW and local authorities. Despite the good work being done under the existing capital programme, the system remains fragmented. Rivers do not respect county boundaries. Actions taken or not taken upstream can have serious consequences downstream. Issues such as siltation, vegetation management, land use change, outdated drainage infrastructure and inadequate maintenance have all made a contribution to the flood risk. Too often, these issues are dealt with in a piecemeal way rather than through integrated catchment-wide planning. Given the increasing financial cost to families, businesses, landowners and the Exchequer, the time has come for a national river management strategy. A national river management strategy would provide three clear pathways: a long-term framework for catchment-based planning; a clear prioritisation of investment; and structured interagency co-operation. It would ensure that flood mitigation funding delivers maximum value for money, reduces duplication and integrates nature-based solutions alongside traditional engineering works. A national approach would provide certainty. It would allow local authorities and communities to plan proactively. We cannot continue to lurch from one flood event to the next and announce schemes after each crisis, without embedding them into a broader strategic framework. I urge the Minister of State to commit to developing a national river management strategy that integrates existing flood relief programmes, accelerates delivery, strengthens governance and funding mechanisms, and uses modern tools for river basin management. Communities like Portarlington, Clonaslee, Rosenallis, Mountmellick and others across County Laois deserve clarity. They deserve progress and they deserve to know that the Government is moving beyond reactive responses towards a co-ordinated, strategic and future-focused approach. Flooding is an issue of growing urgency. The financial, social and emotional costs are simply too high to ignore. We need a system that works, one where river management is co-ordinated, consistent and grounded in long-term planning rather than crisis response. Will the Minister of State, in his own good time while on the public media, explain something that people raise with me on a continuous basis, day in, day out, no matter where I travel? In my hometown of Portlaoise, from where the River Triogue takes all our water out of the capital town of the county to Mountrath, Clonaslee, Rosenallis and Abbeyleix, and everywhere in every corner of Laois, people are talking to me. The talk the whole time, especially among the older people in the community, is that I raise in the Dáil with the Minister of State why we cannot go in to manage and clean the rivers, as was done 40, 50, 60 and 70 years ago. People on the canals can still remember - the few people we have who are over 90 years of age - when the canals were dammed and cleaned all those years ago. They ask the same thing, which is to know, working with everybody on a river management basis, that surely some form of cleaning can take place in the river. I am only saying to the Minister of State what has been said to me on a daily basis. One old lady said to me the other day that she is 88 years of age and cleans the shore in her yard every three or four weeks because if she does not, it fills up with silt and the water runs all over the yard right up to her door. These are people who have lived many years and know the facts about having to clean something and ensuring there is depth enough in our rivers, managed right, that allows us to ensure the water does not overflow the banks and does not flood people. Surely, we must act and act immediately when people's homes are flooded. I acknowledge that the Minister of State has done more work on this. It was many years ago when I saw him on national TV working on behalf of the people of Athlone who were completely flooded. I saw him getting out of a rubber dinghy when he was helping people to move from one area to another. The Minister of State has walked the walk and I am not saying he is not talking the talk. I acknowledge we have a good person to walk the walk for us now because he knows at first hand the devastation. People whose homes have never been flooded believe flooding is like a sink overflowing in the kitchen, as experienced by most people, or a washing machine breaking down, with water coming out on the floor. Flooding is a different animal altogether, in that the devastation can be evident in the house for years afterwards. It is a matter of what comes with the water and what is left over when it is cleaned out with mops and buckets. That must take priority over everything else for those affected. Every winter, there is fear of flooding owing to rainfall. Flooding is devastating for those who live in flood-risk zones. We often hear that we need to be sure about where we buy or build a house. We should remember that there are people living in second-, third- and fourth-generation houses that were never flooded until now. This is where the huge problem is arising. We can talk about climate change but in parallel we need to ensure our natural infrastructure is maintained properly. I remember being a very young councillor in my town, Portlaoise. I acknowledge the role of local authorities. I can speak only about my own one, in County Laois. I have been dealing with it for years and years. Sandbags were always available and councillors could pick them up and deliver them. I am sure the Minister of State did so himself in his time. I acknowledge that the councils were always very proactive. What is more important is that we work together to ensure we do not experience this devastation again. I named all the storms in my opening address. Every time they happened, there were serious repercussions for everybody. After each one, we were talking as we are talking now. If we are prepared to put huge amounts towards flood barriers, we can also work in parallel by ensuring proper management where water flows out. No matter what you do, water still has to travel the one line out. In my town, Portlaoise, through which the River Triogue flows, there was flooding at Bridge Street because the bridge was too narrow where the water left the town. We took down the bridge and straightened the river at the back of the convent school, meaning we never had flooding again on the street. However, the problem is that we are not cleaning and dredging the river according to principles of good river management, as was done when I was a young fella, the whole way along from Two Mile Bridge to The Rock GAA Club. No dredger has been seen recently. I saw the dredger on the river when I was a young fella. People keep asking me how there could not be flooding if the rivers are not managed. I mean managing them in co-operation with everybody else. None of us set out to do something wrong. Those who went before us hundreds of years ago did not set out to do anything wrong. They managed the rivers. When I was a young fella passing the same river each day coming home from school, I would see huge eels in it. There are still some there but not as many. We should ask why. I am told it has all to do with not touching the river. I do not know; I am not an expert. I can only tell what happened to me and what I saw with my own two eyes when I was a young fella. All those who lived along the River Triogue loved walking it, going out by Meany’s and O’Donnell’s. I recently asked an old man who lives along the river if there were many ducks. He said there are not as many as usual. Therefore, it is not all about not touching the river. There is something else at play. Is it that we need to have better management of rivers to encourage more wildlife to come? I asked the man when he last saw an otter. He said he does not know the day he last saw one. He is now 84. When he was a young fella, there were plenty of otters. He said he sees the odd crane standing at the side of the bank. The reason I am saying this is not to give a lecture here in Dáil Éireann but because all the talk about not doing river management must be balanced with what we saw 50 or 60 years ago, when there was plenty of wildlife along the river even though there was river management. The argument I am trying to put forward is that we need better management. I praise the Minister of State again for the work he has done. I look forward to him coming down to County Laois. I will have his lunch ready for him on the day.

Sentiment score: 0.06