andMaher asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state whether the Government have yet made any decision with regard to alleviation of the distress caused by the Shannon floods.
Ceisteann—Questions. Oral Answers. - Shannon Floods Distress.
The Government has decided to make available interest-free loans, repayable over five years, to purchase stock, fodder or fuel, where losses in any such category have been experienced as a result of these floods.
The Irish Land Commission will, forthwith, examine the possibility of migrating such landholders in these flooded areas as may seek alternative holdings.
The Commissioners of Public Works will examine the possibility of removing obstructions in the river bed, and, in consultation with the E.S.B., will review the administration of sluice-gates on the Shannon.
Consultation with Comhlucht Siúicre Éireann is proceeding with a view to making available pressed beet pulp, for ensiling or direct feeding, at specially reduced rates.
In the meantime, the Irish Red Cross Society, at the instance of local representatives, is examining the need for emergency relief measures, if and where such exist.
Is the Minister aware that, in the flooded area of the Shannon, the conditions are much graver now compared with previous years? A far greater proportion of important crops has been destroyed and the residents there feel that the application of the measures indicated by the Minister in the course of a visit down there may not be adequate. I want to ask whether the Minister has considered the unusual duration of the floods, the month in which they took place and the serious conditions which can be observed in the district, in making his decision as to the maximum he can do?
I have considered all the matters to which the Deputy refers. As the Deputy no doubt is aware, I visited this area myself and travelled extensively through it—coming into intimate contact with the floods. I assure the Deputy that all these relevant considerations have been present to my mind and that the loss of crops was present in my mind when I recommended to the Government that interest-free loans, repayable over five years, be made available to anybody who had lost stock or fodder or fuel, having present to my mind the question of both the crops and turf. Nor is my mind closed to any further recommendations that anyone thinks genuinely would be of assistance. If such recommendations are forthcoming, I can assure any Deputy of this House that they will be very carefully considered on their merits to see if they can further assist in setting right what is wrong.