asked the Minister for Finance the approximate date on which work will commence on the drainage of (a) the Maigue river and (b) the Mulcaire river.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Drainage of Maigue and Mulcaire Rivers.
61.
The engineering survey of the Maigue Catchment which comprises 260,000 acres and which lies in counties Limerick and Tipperary was completed in 1963. Some 38 miles of main river channel and 580 miles of tributaries (the principal tributaries being the Loobagh, Morning Star and Camoge rivers) were covered in the survey. The preparation of a suitable drainage scheme is now in hands. This work will take a number of years and some time will then be needed for the local exhibition of the scheme, the receipt and consideration of observations from the local authorities and other interested parties and consultation with other Government Departments, as required by the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945. I cannot, at this stage, give a firm date for the commencement of works, but it is unlikely that a start can be made before 1968. Precise details as to the scope of the scheme are, of course, not yet available, but it is expected that the works will cost about £3,000,000, at present prices, and will benefit over 33,000 acres of land.
The Deputy is, no doubt, aware that the embankments at the outfall section of the River Maigue below Adare are at present being dealt with in conjunction with the repair of the Shannon Estuary embankments.
The survey of the Mulcaire River commenced in July, 1963. The catchment comprises some 163,000 acres and about 200 miles of main and tributary channels. To date, the survey of the main Mulcaire channel from its outfall at the River Shannon below Annacotty to its source above Cappamore, County Limerick—a distance of about 20 miles—has been completed; as has also the survey of the main channels of the Dead River and its tributaries, the Cauteen and Pope's Rivers and the Killeenagarriff River and its tributaries, the Annagh and Newport Rivers. In all, some 78 miles of tributaries have been surveyed so far, leaving about 100 miles of channel still to be done. The survey should be completed in 1966.
When the survey has been completed, a number of years will be required for the design of a scheme, and, as for the Maigue, the statutory requirements will have to be complied with. I have suggested that works could commence in 1970 or 1971, but, at this early stage, this is a very tentative estimate.
From available information (but without the benefit of the survey data), it is expected that the works required in the catchment would cost about £1 million, at present day prices, and that from 10,000 to 12,000 acres of land would be improved.