I thank Aontú for tabling this motion which important for the whole country. This has been a hobby horse of mine since I came into the Dáil in 2016 because I saw, in my short two years in the council, the damage in my constituency mainly caused by blocked rivers. I genuinely want to have this addressed. What is blocking people from going in, perhaps putting in an application for a river to be cleaned out and for it to be cleaned out? It is so simple but it is made so difficult. It has destroyed houses and homes the length and breadth of the country. Nobody seems to want to tackle that issue. I am not going to be critical of the Minister of State, Deputy Moran. He has the feet worn off himself going around visiting communities that were destroyed by flooding. That is what a Minister should do - talk to his people and businesses. I respect that but they need answers. The most mortifying thing I have found is that almost every year since I was elected, I have gone with a Minister around Bantry, a town that has been struck with floods severely, and sometimes I think I am only annoying businesses telling them we are very sorry and how terrible it is. That is not a solution. In Bantry, 42 years ago people told me they had to go into their premises and sit up on high stools because the water was tearing through the businesses. In 2025, the same thing happened. Nothing changed. I know the Minister was down in Ballylickey in 2017. We were told about the pearl mussel and we know the pearl mussel is important. I heard a gentleman on RTÉ radio the other day talking about Enniscorthy. He said the rivers are blocked. There is a pearl mussel on the side and it cannot be cleared. Where did the pearl mussel go when Enniscorthy flooded? It went across the field and was gone for ever. It is the same in Ballylicky. My brother, Councillor Danny Collins, dragged sandbags into houses there a few weeks ago to try to block the water. There is something wrong somewhere. Where is the blockage, pardon the pun, in government that means legislation cannot be fast-tracked in here to make sure that rivers with problems can be cleaned out? One cannot fill a bath at home and keep running the water without expecting it to overflow and destroy the house. That is the most simple way to put it. We expect that in this country. We do not want to clean our rivers. Whether Enniscorthy, Innishannon, Ballylicky or Bantry, there is no policy to do that. That is the easiest thing to tackle. Millions have been spent on flood relief, which we respect. Last week, I asked the Tánaiste to change that and I asked whether a policy can be brought forward to make sure that rivers are clean. He said he is looking into it. The people of Midleton, Enniscorthy or Ballylicky cannot be flooded one more time without anything being done.

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