A little common sense would spare a lot of farmland and dredging needs to take place in rivers across the country in order to get the water to sea, independent TD Mattie McGrath has told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The comments come in advance of a motion on the impact of river management, drainage and flood prevention policies, which will be brought before the Dáil on Wednesday by the rural independent TD group.
McGrath said: “Only a bucket of silt has been taken out of the Shannon in recent years and, as a result, properties and livelihoods are flooded repeatedly on an annual basis.
“Any money invested into combating this has been wasted so far. The Government needs to appoint a dedicated task force to resolve this. We need an inventory of every single water course across the island along with a plan on how to keep the water moving.”
The motion
The independent TD group has said that flooding has far-reaching negative impacts, such as emotional stress, the loss of individual homes, farms and businesses, as well as declines in the economic competitiveness of impacted communities.
Wednesday’s motion calls on the Government to ensure that local authorities have sufficient autonomy to facilitate the removal of silt along rivers.
The TDs claim that the essential and basic maintenance of Ireland’s rivers and streams is not taking place.
It has requested the Government to:
Increase the threshold of the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection funding scheme available to local authorities, from €750,000 to €1m. Fast-track and deliver the development of the planned 150 flood relief schemes that form part of the Government’s €1bn investment in flood relief over the lifetime of the National Development Plan to 2027.Allow farmers and landowners to take the build-up of gravel and silt out of rivers.Allow farmers and landowners to remove branches or trees from rivers or streams, at any time of year, without the threat of any prosecution for doing so. Read more
Flood works on way for south Galway farmers
Farmers say Dunkellin river cleaning is a ‘fish counting exercise’
Farmland flooded as river bursts its banks in Clifden
A little common sense would spare a lot of farmland and dredging needs to take place in rivers across the country in order to get the water to sea, independent TD Mattie McGrath has told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The comments come in advance of a motion on the impact of river management, drainage and flood prevention policies, which will be brought before the Dáil on Wednesday by the rural independent TD group.
McGrath said: “Only a bucket of silt has been taken out of the Shannon in recent years and, as a result, properties and livelihoods are flooded repeatedly on an annual basis.
“Any money invested into combating this has been wasted so far. The Government needs to appoint a dedicated task force to resolve this. We need an inventory of every single water course across the island along with a plan on how to keep the water moving.”
The motion
The independent TD group has said that flooding has far-reaching negative impacts, such as emotional stress, the loss of individual homes, farms and businesses, as well as declines in the economic competitiveness of impacted communities.
Wednesday’s motion calls on the Government to ensure that local authorities have sufficient autonomy to facilitate the removal of silt along rivers.
The TDs claim that the essential and basic maintenance of Ireland’s rivers and streams is not taking place.
It has requested the Government to:
Increase the threshold of the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection funding scheme available to local authorities, from €750,000 to €1m. Fast-track and deliver the development of the planned 150 flood relief schemes that form part of the Government’s €1bn investment in flood relief over the lifetime of the National Development Plan to 2027.Allow farmers and landowners to take the build-up of gravel and silt out of rivers.Allow farmers and landowners to remove branches or trees from rivers or streams, at any time of year, without the threat of any prosecution for doing so. Read more
Flood works on way for south Galway farmers
Farmers say Dunkellin river cleaning is a ‘fish counting exercise’
Farmland flooded as river bursts its banks in Clifden
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