Deputy Rooney has given notice that on the Adjournment this evening he wishes to raise the subject-matter of Question No. 8 on to-day's Order Paper.
Adjournment Debate. - Flooding in North County Dublin.
To-day at Question Time, I asked the following question:—
"To ask the Minister for Finance whether he is aware that extensive flooding was caused on lands and farmyards near Broadmeadow River as a result of the recent heavy rainfall; and if he will state what progress has been made regarding arterial drainage plans in respect of this river."
The reply I received was as follows:—
"The Commissioners of Public Works are at present investigating the possibility of a drainage scheme for the Broadmeadow catchment area under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945. For that purpose, an engineering survey of the area has been completed, and it is hoped to make the necessary valuation survey of the affected lands this year. When the design and preparation of a scheme have been completed, the requirements of the Act as regards exhibition, consideration of observations and confirmation, will have to be complied with. I cannot say when drainage works in the catchment area are likely to commence."
Now, Sir, that is a most unsatisfactory reply. This Broadmeadow River flooding has been causing hardship and losses for at least 50 years. I have a file here before me and, if necessary, I can read letters dated 1903 concerning proposals to carry out drainage work on the Broadmeadow River, owing to serious flooding in November, 1901. It was considered at that time that it was clear that a drainage scheme for the Broadmeadow River should be made. However, since 1901, this matter has been brought up in an active manner on several occasions. There are many reports available concerning that river, but to-day from the reply to my question, it is obvious that we are not near any actual work being done, although we may be nearer on paper to having some effective work carried out. It seems that as far back as 1928 a scheme was ready; and a design for the drainage work was exhibited as far back as 1930. Here in reply to this question to-day, we are told that it will be necessary to exhibit the scheme, now that the survey has been completed.
Briefly speaking, the recent history of this river is that in January, 1957, a survey began and apparently it was completed recently, according to the reply. We are indebted to the Irish Independent for a photograph which shows hundreds of acres of land under a lake of water, only a couple of years ago. Here I have a cutting from the Irish Times, dated 27th June of this year—some days ago—and standing in the middle of the public road there is a man with a fishing rod and line, beside the signpost pointing to Ballyboughal, Swords and Dublin, 50 yards from the main river stream. He is fishing there on the public road, because he could not get any nearer to the stream. In addition, we have a photograph here of a tractor and trailer driving along on the public road and there is a flood there to a depth of one and a half feet. I mention this so that it can be appreciated that this flood one and a half feet deep went in to farmyards, farmhouses and dwellinghouses. It caused a sleepless night for the residents of those places, watching the water rise in the darkness of the night, wondering just when it would stop and finding it necessary to move their live stock to higher land.
All these problems are being caused by the delay in having this drainage work carried out. This was a need which was appreciated as far back as 1901. My complaint is that over the years the Board of Works has had sufficient time and sufficient data to enable them to complete a scheme within a reasonable time. I think I am right in saying that there is on the file a report which says that, on completion of the survey, one senior engineer and four junior engineers could, in the space of eight weeks, design a scheme for the drainage of this river.
Approximately 50 families are affected. The river damages at least 600 acres of land three or four times a year at times of heavy rainfall. That occurs not necessarily in the winter time; sometimes these floods come just as they did last week, during what would be expected to be the drier period of the year. I was informed in 1955 that the river was listed No. 4 on a priority list by the Board of Works under the minor rivers section of the Arterial Drainage Act. It is considered by the local families that a dredging machine operated by a drainage contractor could bring considerable relief to the flooding which is being caused there. It is appreciated, of course, that the general bed of the river is twisted and that the water does not get a straight run to the sea just north of Swords. The records will show that the road bridge at Rolestown was swept away in 1954. It was swept away because the flood waters were not taken away quickly enough, down further towards the river mouth. At that time, it was necessary for an Army pontoon bridge to be provided at Rolestown. It is costing something around £4,000 to provide a new bridge there. Now, £4,000 would certainly go some of the way towards the improvement of that watercourse which would avoid the flooding being caused at the present time.
I should like to mention to the Parliamentary Secretary that I found a letter addressed to the Board of Works by the Dublin County Council dated 21st January, 1955, reminding the Board of Works that in a letter dated 8th September, 1950, the Chief Engineer of the Board of Works stated that the board prepared a scheme under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1925, which was not proceeded with. It was not proceeded with at that time because a small contribution was required from the landowners affected in the area. Apparently, at that time, when the scheme was surveyed, when it was designed and exhibited and when it had reached the final stages, it was found that the landowners and ratepayers in the area were not prepared to contribute a very small proportion of the cost required to pay the interest charge and annuity in connection with the remainder, after the grant had been provided towards this work.
This river channel is narrow and twisted; it is choked by weeds and has been neglected for years. Even at this stage, some kind of relief work could be carried out by the Board of Works on this river. There are approximately 27,000 acres of land drained by it and at times of heavy rainfall, approximately 1,000 acres of land are being flooded and damaged. If attention were given to this problem immediately, much of that damage could be avoided and it would be of great benefit to the people who normally suffer these losses. The river is unable to carry the flood waters at times of heavy rainfall because it crosses flat country and is twisted. If the river were straightened, the water would come down much more quickly. I read in some report that on a previous occasion the water was running at the rate of eight feet per second which is a very high speed for water in a river, but when it is running at that rate in a twisted and choked river bed, the amount of flooding near the course of the river will be appreciated.
In 1930, the Office of Public Works approved a scheme which was estimated some years ago by an engineer of Dublin County Council to cost £6,500, but the figure to-day for a reasonably good job would be around £10,000. However, the question of cost will arise only when the formalities which have been mentioned to-day in this question are completed. The scheme was exhibited in 1930 but the landowners at that time refused to make a small contribution towards it. I know the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, will not require householders and landowners to make any contribution towards the work to be carried out now.
This river could have been dealt with under the Arterial Drainage (Minor Schemes) Act, 1928, and much of the survey work was done at that time, but the scheme was not proceeded with. The matter was raised again in 1931 and the landowners and people who were suffering the losses kept the matter before the Board of Works. The reply to the question to-day gives some hope but these people had those hopes in the past. Therefore, I am putting it up to the Parliamentary Secretary that the design could be completed in less than three months —and probably in two months—which is the time estimated for the completion of the design.
Several deputations were sent up by the families who were affected by this flooding and a strong case has been made for the carrying out of the work. I shall not bore the Parliamentary Secretary with any quotations which I can give from the various letters available on the file here because I know all this information is available to him. However, the Parliamentary Secretary says in the last sentence of his reply to-day:—
"I cannot say when drainage works in the catchment area are likely to commence."
As this flooding will take place at least three times or more in every 12 months it is disappointing that the Parliamentary Secretary on this occasion cannot give a more hopeful reply.
I hope the information I have given to the Parliamentary Secretary will be useful. It is from first-hand knowledge because I have studied this problem over a period of ten years. The place in question is not far from the Swords and Rush areas and I am fully aware of the hardships this flooding is causing and of the desire amongst the residents to have the matter put right as soon as possible.
I would like the Parliamentary Secretary in his reply to give an assurance that efforts will be redoubled and that finance will be provided in the immediate future in order to have this work carried out. I mentioned that even temporary relief could be given, if the river bed could be cleared of various obstructions which have accumulated down the years. The obstructions are not just rock that cannot be moved. They are all kinds of tree trunks which were swept down from the surrounding lands at times of flooding. When the floods come, they carry into that stream all these obstructions which remain there and which I feel could easily be removed by a drainage contractor. This would enable the floods to get away more quickly than at present and would alleviate the hardship until the actual work of drainage under the Arterial Drainage Act could be carried out in the normal way.
I do not wish to contest any of the arguments which Deputy Rooney has put forward to impress upon the House the importance of having this Broadmeadow drainage scheme done at the earliest possible time. However, he himself has raised a question with regard to the desirability of doing this work when he reminded me that a scheme prepared in the late twenties was not proceeded with because the people who were to benefit from it would not make what he described as the small contribution necessary. That immediately raises the question of the economics of the scheme on which I shall not now make any comment because we have not reached the stage at which any economic assessment of it can be made.
The Deputy, I am sure, is aware that the first survey carried out is usually the engineering survey and that survey has been completed in respect of this Broadmeadow minor catchment area. The next survey, which has not yet begun but which I understand may be undertaken between now and the autumn, is the valuation survey. The design of an approved scheme is being prepared on the basis of the engineering survey and that should be ready early next year. When the valuation survey is also available, these two together will be discussed and the possibility of preparing an economic scheme will then be considered.
The Deputy also is aware, I take it, that when a scheme has been exhibited, as it must be under the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act, at least a month must be allowed for observations on it and objections to it on the part of the public. Then there must be a period of three months during which the county council will have an opportunity of making their submissions in respect of it. Assuming that these two parties do not produce any objection to the scheme, I take it we would then be on the way to the preparation of a final scheme for submission to the Minister for Finance. However, all these stages, which are statutory and must be complied with, take time.
I would remind the Deputy that the piecemeal treatment of the immediate trouble area here cannot be carried out by the Office of Public Works. Under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, they are obliged to treat the entire catchment area as a unit and to prepare a scheme on the basis of that unit. Therefore, any piecemeal method of dealing with this flooding problem cannot be applied by them.
It is possible that, when the scheme has been exhibited, Deputy Rooney and the Deputies for County Dublin may find that the objections to the scheme by the potential beneficiaries, to which he has referred, may be renewed and that they may not accept the financial obligations of the scheme. It is true, as he says, that no contribution has to be made by the beneficiaries for the carrying-out of the work, as would have been the case in respect of the scheme to which he referred under, I take it, the 1925 Act. However, the Deputy must know that there is a statutory obligation on the beneficiaries, that is, the rated land-holders in the catchment area, to pay the maintenance costs which will subsequently be incurred by the Office of Public Works in maintaining the drainage works which will have been carried out. These charges are collected by the county council and must be paid.
Is it not a general charge on the rate?
Yes, it is. That is true. However, the ratepayers of County Dublin will, in any event, have to bear it and they have no choice but to pay.
I am not yet in a position to say anything with regard to the time in which works can be undertaken here. Deputy Rooney will appreciate that, until we reach the stage at which an economic scheme can be drawn up with an estimate of the time which will be required to complete the further stages before the actual implementation of the scheme can take place, it is not possible now to give any such estimate. The question of whether or not an economic scheme can be devised for the Broadmeadow catchment area has not yet been definitely decided. I do not want to depress the Deputy. I hope such a scheme will be possible but I do not want to state that positively on this occasion because the preparatory work has not proceeded sufficiently far to form any such estimate. There will be no avoidable delay. The priority of this scheme on the general programme has not been interfered with in any way by me since I became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and it is being given its allotted place on that programme.
There are about 60 catchment areas, divided between minor and major, the division being about half and half. The Deputy will appreciate that there will be other schemes in progress at the same time as this one, when the work commences, and there are other works in progress at the present time as to engineering and valuation surveys, contemporaneously with this. For that reason, the degree of expedition of which the Deputy has spoken cannot be given to it.
The available staff of the Office of Public Works must be employed to the best possible advantage, keeping in mind the general national programme of arterial drainage which has been approved by this and the previous Government. I do not think I am in a position to say any more. I can give the Deputy the assurance that the officials or the Commissioners of Public Works charged with the promotion of this scheme are highly competent and efficient at their work. I am satisfied they have applied themselves diligently to it. For that reason, I expect it will be possible to have a favourable report in the matter but I do not, and cannot, tie myself to time.
The conditions which flooding throw up are very much the same in regard to inconvenience and discomfort and the other drawbacks associated with it in all districts. I would remind the Deputy that they exist in a much greater degree in other catchment areas than is the case even in the Broadmeadow catchment area, as described by him as a result of the present month's flooding.
Three times this month.
The flooding that has taken place this month has been noted and inspected by the engineers of the Office of Public Works. It is possible that some new information will have been acquired by them as a result of this very regrettable flooding.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 2nd July, 1958.