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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Oct 1966

Vol. 224 No. 8

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Monaghan River Drainage.

24.

asked the Minister for Finance when it is proposed to proceed with the drainage of (1) the River Finn (Erne Catchment), (2) the River Fane, (3) the River Dromore (Erne Catchment), and (4) the River Blackwater, in view of the fact that the Northern Ireland Government have completed drainage of outlets of Finn and Dromore and are working on the Blackwater.

With a view to the preparation of a drainage scheme a joint survey of the Finn catchment was commenced this year by engineers of the Office of Public Works and the Northern Ministry of Finance.

The Fane is No. 20 on the priority list of minor catchments to be dealt with under the Arterial Drainage Act 1945, and it will be some years yet before it is reached in the programme.

The Dromore river is in the portion of the Erne catchment which lies wholly within the State, and for which an arterial drainage scheme is at present being designed. It will be at least a year before the design is completed.

I understand that the Northern authorities are dealing with the portion of the Blackwater north of the border in sections commencing at the outfall into Lough Neagh. They do not expect to reach the border stretch for three or four years and the Office of Public Works then hope to join them in the survey of this section. When the border section is dealt with, the question of designing a scheme for the Monaghan portion of the catchment will then be taken up.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary tell me if there is any approximate date for the work on the Dromore river, as this river, as the Minister is aware, as well as the other three, has been the subject of promises by successive Governments for a long time?

As I have stated to the Deputy, a scheme is in process of being designed at the moment. I think it would be premature to attempt to speculate about the date when work will commence because the scheme, having been designed, will have to be examined as to its merits and as to its cost, and for those and other reasons, it would be unwise to attempt to speculate about the probable date of the commencement of work.

In view of the difficulties to which the Parliamentary Secretary euphemistically refers, does he recall that there is an interim scheme in his Department for the relief of the urgent problems created by the Dromore river, and would be consider implementing that interim scheme during the protracted wait which his present embarrassments require of him?

As the Deputy is well aware, it is not possible to deal with arterial drainage by way of an interim scheme.

In fact, there is in existence an interim scheme which was approved by the Board of Works, and if the Parliamentary Secretary does not know about it, perhaps he would ask his colleague, the Minister for Transport and Power, who will tell him that before he ever turned up in Monaghan, I had secured the preparation of such a scheme.

I am aware that when Deputy Dillon was Minister for Agriculture, he seemed to me from the records to jump the gun, and give this river in Monaghan priority not only over every river in Ireland but over the 1945 Act itself.

Yes, it is urgent. I have no apology to make.

Deputy Dillon calls it an interim scheme but I would call it a jump-the-gun scheme, an ad hoc County Monaghan scheme, which is completely in contravention of the 1945 Act.

To relieve the problems of the small farmers in Monaghan, and I am proud of it. If you do not like it, you can lump it.

I feel responsible not only to farmers in Monaghan but to farmers in the remainder of Ireland also.

Hear, hear.

And therefore I feel that we should give no special and unfair priority to farmers in any particular district.

You think it unfair to take them out of water up to their knees?

(Interruptions.)
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