asked the Minister for Finance why the upper region of the river Boyne which has been maintained by a joint drainage board for the past 33 years has not been cleared of weeds et cetera, this year, with the result that the upper flat area around this portion of the river is suffering from heavy flooding.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - River Boyne Drainage.
41.
I take it that the Deputy is referring to the existing drainage district of the Blackwater. The drainage works of that District are included in the Boyne drainage scheme and were entered on in pursuance of that scheme last June. Thereupon, in accordance with the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, the drainage district ceased to exist and the duties of the joint drainage committee of Counties Meath and Kildare ended. The works on that portion of the river under the Boyne drainage scheme are proceeding.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that as it is unlikely that that portion of the Boyne will benefit from the arterial drainage for three or four years it is most unfair to allow the river to be filled up completely with weeds because the ordinary maintenance which normally was carried out every year is not now being carried out?
There is no provision in the Arterial Drainage Act for the maintenance of such drainage districts in the interval between entry of the district and the completion of the work on the drainage scheme.
I am aware of that but would the Parliamentary Secretary not be able to arrange that the staff who are carrying out drainage work further down the river would clear the bigger weeds from that portion of the river? They do not require any special arrangement to do that—I understand it can be done. Would he not even do that if there is no other way because otherwise there will be very severe losses in the area from flooding?
I am afraid that under section 8 of the Drainage Act, 1945, there is no statutory authority to do so, but in case the Deputy is worried about the people who are employed by the joint committee, they have been employed by the Office of Public Works.
Some of them.
All of them.
Not all of them. If the Parliamentary Secretary wants to say he is prepared to have all of them employed I will give him a list of people about whom he might have been too happy.
I am only too happy to hear any grievance the Deputy may have.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that the staff carrying out the drainage on that river have the right to do anything they think necessary for the opening of the river, and therefore could he not consult the people in charge and see if there is a possibility of cleaning that particular stretch of the river so that local farmers will be able to use the land this winter and next winter?
I will have a look at it again. Deputy, but I understand I do not have the statutory authority.
That is fair enough.