I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this important motion. I am very conscious as we speak here this morning that there are families all over the country still undertaking a clean-up of their homes and businesses and assessing the impact of the severe flooding on them. Climate change means these floods are going to become more regular and more severe. That is why the approach the State takes to flooding needs to change. In the week since towns like Enniscorthy and Aughrim were inundated, there has been a rightful focus on the engineering solutions and why these are taking so long to deliver. Alongside engineering solutions, there must be a renewed commitment to the delivery of nature-based solutions. Let us recall what we mean by this. Nature-based solutions are about ways to retain the water at the upper end of a river catchment for as long as possible, slow down the movement of that water and allow sufficient quantities of it to soak away, rather than going straight into a river, thereby raising the level and creating the flooding. This is the first piece of flood defence we should focus on. It is not the only piece but it is absolutely essential. It is about looking at upland areas, seeing if there are forested areas to absorb water or fields that can be allowed to flood. It is about paying the landowners and farmers when they allow us to use their lands for this vital flood defence.

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