I express my appreciation and that of Senator Daly to the Minister and all of our colleagues in the House for the all-party welcome they have given to this initiative which we have undertaken. It is of considerable importance, not just for Shannonsiders, but also in terms of the national significance of this major waterway. It is the finest waterway in Britain and Ireland and has played a major role in all stages of Irish development — cultural, recreational, industrial, urban and agricultural.
It is not our purpose in this Bill to diminish in any way the development along this national artery. Our purpose is to ensure the ordered and regulated continuation of that development to guarantee that the economic wellbeing of those who live in the Shannon catchment area will be enhanced in the future in a way that will not spoil the pure waters of that lordly river. I am grateful, as is Senator Daly, to my colleagues for the warm response they have given to our initiative. Unfortunately, Senator Daly is indisposed today, although not seriously. Otherwise he would be here to express his thanks to our colleagues.
If the welcome which has been given to the Bill by our colleagues and the Minister has qualifications, we accept them. We are the first to acknowledge that we want to have a Shannon river authority with a full and effective statutory function to regulate, control and penalise, not just monitor and report. We want to see an authority which will be guaranteed a statutory function by the Oireachtas.
We recognise there are a plethora of agencies and authorities that have a statutory function — the ESB, Bord na Móna, fisheries boards, local authorities and the Board of Works. We cannot presume that we could get agreement from Government in one fell swoop to abolish all of those bodies and their interests in and around the Shannon and immediately replace them with the Shannon River Council. That is the ultimate aim of every Senator who has spoken on this matter. Until we have that degree of statutory control and function, we will not be able to guarantee the protection of the waters, streams, rivers, wildlife and fishlife of the Shannon.
At a time when there is some discussion on the role of the Seanad, this debate is a tribute to that role and a vindication of the significance and importance of this House. I appreciate the active role my colleagues have played in debating this issue. The Seanad, as it has demonstrated on this Bill, is the House where legislation can be considered calmly and effectively without a partisan political attitude. As is evident from the welcome given to the Bill by all sides of the House, it extends beyond partisan politics.
I note the suggestion that Senator Daly or I may not be in this House at a later stage as if we are successful in the forthcoming election we will be promoted or demoted to the Lower House. What is being done here must be continued and developed in the other House as soon as the Bill passes through the Seanad. It is my intention, whether in Government or in Opposition in this House or the other one, that this Bill will proceed and I will take on board the valid suggestions made by colleagues in this House.
Those suggestions have been consistent and many Senators, including Senator Belton, have correctly pointed out that there is overlap. We are addressing this. I probably know the river Shannon and its lakes better than anyone else. When I was four or five years old my late father and I went fishing at Luska with the late Johnny Kennedy, who was then 84 years old. One could call him the old man of the Shannon. I am familiar with the moods of that lake and I love its character.
I am conscious of the overlap and the lack of co-ordination which exists between various bodies with responsibility in this area. I propose on Committee Stage to take on board some of the suggestions made by tabling amendments to the Bill. I hope those amendments will not elicit any negative response from Government though this has not been the case to date. I intend to consult the Leader of the House, the Minister and all parties with a view to introducing amendments which could be agreed on an all party basis. I do not want this Bill to be viewed as a partisan, party issue.
The real feature of this Bill is that all the voluntary organisations and lakeshore communities that live beside the Shannon and play, fish, swim and boat on it will be, for the first time, involved in a statutory council. It will be the first time that the views of local people will be taken into consideration with regard to the development of the Shannon and so on. The people living in those lakeshore communities are those best equipped to advise, through a council, on what effective actions should be taken to co-ordinate the activities of local authorities, the development agencies, the Board of Works and so on. They are in a position to ensure that gaps or unnecessary confrontation between authorities are eliminated so that people can work together in a common cause. I pay special tribute to those voluntary organisations and lakeshore communities.
Before I introduced the Bill I consulted groups and communities in the Lough Derg area. The Shannon extends as far as Lough Ree but I did not have the opportunity or capacity to consult people there. I want to record the fact that this Bill would not be before this House were it not for the vigorous support of those lakeshore communities and voluntary organisations. In the case of Lough Derg, these communities include Portumna, Terryglass, Luske, Puckane, Dromineer, Urra, Youghal Bay, Garrykennedy, Ballina and Castleough. If that list does not suggest I know the lake fairly well, I do not think anything would. Many people from those communities travelled quite a distance to give us the benefit of their views on the programme we are proposing for the Shannon River Council. I acknowledge the role played by the various angling, boating, yachting and swimming clubs along the Shannon which were all involved in the consultation process but if I were to single out one group it would be the organisation, referred to by Senator Mooney, known as Save Our Lough Derg or SOLD. I should also acknowledge the contributions of Greenpeace, An Taisce, the ESB and all of the other bodies which had an involvement.
The SOLD campaign and its members were of immense assistance to Senator Daly and me. I would like to pay particular tribute to its Chairman and Secretary, John Sheehy and Bernard Chadwick who did a marvellous job in co-ordinating much of the work done in the preparation of this Bill. We owe it to them and the people they represent to ensure that we do something positive about this issue.
I am indebted to the Minister for responding to the Bill. Minister Burton provided us with some very significant information which, if anything, strengthened the case for a Bill such as this. The Minister mentioned that the Shannon catchment area extends for 2,228 kilometres if one considers the number of rivers, streams and channels involved. One is literally dealing with the waterway of Ireland and with something that impinges on the lives of those living along the Shannon and beyond it.
I am indebted to the Minister for pointing out that surveys have shown some 32 per cent of the river channel is polluted. Less than 20 per cent of this is regarded as moderately polluted and 12 per cent as slightly polluted. I understand that the 12 per cent figure has increased to 17 per cent. If one considers that almost all of the upper Shannon near Lough Allen and the Shannon Pot is, fortunately, almost totally unpolluted and unspoiled one will get an indication of the level of degradation of Lough Ree. We cannot watch that degradation continue without taking action of the kind I am proposing. Speakers on all sides of the House have supported me in this.
I want to make it very clear that I want the council to have a statutory function which will confer limited and specific responsibilities. If I could give the council the statutory function to do all that requires to be done on every front in respect of the development of the Shannon, the control of pollution and so on I would propose that right now. I acknowledge that all of this is necessary in the long run. However, as an experienced legislator I am aware that will not, and cannot, be done overnight but it is time it started.
The real feature of this Bill is that, for the first time, local people are being given an opportunity to make their views known. These include local representatives and county councillors who up to this point have had no statutory function in relation to the control of pollution of the Shannon, recreational organisations, lakeshore communities, and those interested in the archaeological sites along the Shannon and its cultural inheritance. Monuments are being spoiled along the Shannon through casual intrusions and by picnickers. All of these are matters of fundamental importance for this council. The castles and monasteries along that river are a particular feature of Lough Derg. My family name is associated with it through Mr. Garry Kennedy and the old castle at Dromineer. It should be protected and enhanced and the council will have a major role in ensuring that is done.
It will be a statutory council with executive functions. It must have its own staff and it will have the power to monitor, control and report on the activities of the other agencies and bodies associated with the River Shannon. Unfortunately, some of those bodies have done the opposite to what statute requires them to do. I will not point the finger at individual local authorities but the function of each authority is to control pollution and the environment. However, many of them for various reasons, such as a lack of adequate financial support from central Government, are among the primary polluters. Untreated sewage is a major issue. If one visits the beautiful still waters of the bays of Lough Derg at Dromineer, Luska and Urra one can see the effect of pollution caused by those who are charged with reducing environmental damage.
Individual members of local authorities, such as the chairman of SOLD, Councillor John Sheehy, should be members of the new body. Representatives of boatmen, yachtsmen, swimming clubs, An Taisce and environmentalists should also be involved. Senator Mooney said the council will generate an explosion of creativity with regard to the River Shannon. This should be based on a constant commitment in terms of the recommendations the council will make to the Minister for the Environment, to whom it will report on a statutory basis twice a year. The Minister of the day and not the council will have responsibility for making decisions. However, the council will make recommendations twice a year which will be published and debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas. They will be a matter of public record and any Minister in any Government would ignore the recommendations and findings of such a body at their peril. The central thrust of the Bill is that the council will be an on the spot watchdog. It will ensure that its recommendations are effectively implemented.
The lordly River Shannon has a mile for every day of the year and industrial and agricultural development and urban renewal should continue in every town — Athlone, Banagher, Nenagh, Birr, Roscrea, etc. — along its 365 miles. There should be development but it must be controlled in a way which ensures that it enhances the river rather than spoils it. I acknowledge Members' points about the overlap of facilities and that one cannot suddenly eradicate the role of statutory bodies. However, judging by the mood of the House and the public's reaction to the Bill, it is time to start taking action on a co-ordinated and effective basis. The Bill is our contribution to the initiation of that action.
I first joined the House in 1965 and I have had a lengthy political career involving a number of Ministries. It is for others to judge the significance of my contribution in the Departments of Education, Transport and Power, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Agriculture and Labour. However, if I thought this Bill was the beginning of the protection and enhancement of the beautiful River Shannon, from the Shannon pot to Loop Head, whatever else I did in my political career would pale into insignificance in comparison to the contribution that Senator Daly and I made in that regard.