The Chairman of the IFA Flood Project Team Michael Silke appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment to set out the measures needed to avoid the devastation caused by the extensive flooding across the country last November.

 

Mr Silke said the overwhelming view of the public Forum on flood management organised by IFA in January was that a single agency with full responsibility and authority should be established immediately. He said the agency must take account of the views of local people and be given adequate resources to have a real and lasting impact in dealing with flooding.

 

“This agency must have responsibility for all waterways in the country, with the specific remit of carrying out essential maintenance on our river network so that the damage caused to farmland and households can be avoided in future.”

 

He said the current situation whereby over half a dozen agencies have a say in water levels, and some have a veto on whether remedial works go ahead, is untenable. “The failures of the past must not be allowed continue in the future and it is up to the Government to address this issue once and for all.”

 

Michael Silke said, “The persistent failure to maintain our waterways over the last 30 years has created unnecessary hardship for thousands of farm families and rural dwellers. Successive Governments have not dealt with this issue and landowners have suffered the consequences of their inertia. It is now time for action.”