I had a question on the Order Paper yesterday as follows:
To ask the Minister for Finance if he has received memorials from farmers in County Cavan giving particulars of losses they have sustained through the destruction of their crops by floods along the River Erne and its tributaries, and requesting that an inspector be sent to see and value the damage done, with a view to the Government rendering assistance; if it is the intention of the Government to accede to the memorialists' requests; and, if so, will prompt action be taken to relieve immediately the prevailing distress, and also secure the afflicted farmers against the consequences of a barren harvest.
The reply given to that was: "The Commissioners are preparing a detailed drainage scheme for the River Erne and its tributaries, including the Annalee River up as far as Ballanacargy Bridge. In connection with the proposed drainage of the Dromore River the Commissioners intend to make a detailed survey of that river and they also propose to examine the Annalee River from Tullyvin to Ballanacargy Bridge. The Commissioners have received the memorial referred to in the question but no petition under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1925, has been presented to them in respect of the length of river concerned, and, if a drainage scheme is desired, steps should be taken to have such a petition presented to the Cavan County Council without delay. I may add that it would not be possible to start actual drainage works in the area for a long time. The Land Commission is being asked for a report on the matter."
[An Leas-Cheann Comhairle took the Chair.]
I think it is perfectly obvious to anyone hearing that reply that my question was not answered. In fact it would appear as if it were never read. The question, I should explain, was addressed to the President not as the head of a department but as the head of the State. The President passed it on. I presume it went through the circumlocution office and, as far as I can see, it anchored in the wrong pigeon-hole, because it was eventually replied to by the Public Works Department. It has nothing to do with public works. It was a question of the relief of farmers in the County Cavan from distress in consequence of the damage done by spring and early summer floods, but mainly due to the fact that in Northern Ireland there is an obstruction on the River Erne, the result of which is to leave farmers in the winter time along the River Erne and in the area of the River Annalee in a terribly anxious condition as to the saving of their crops. But in this particular year during the summer the heavy floods have completely washed away the crops of the farmers in Belturbet area, Ballinacurry area, and beyond that.
Relief grants have been voted by this House in winter periods for one thing or another. I have no belief in these grants or in the manner in which they are administered. But there is no question that in December or October next it will be perfectly obvious to the farmers of the County Cavan and the County Fermanagh that there are no crops and that distress will exist in the most acute form. And there is no use waiting until October to find out what damage is done while to-day it is perfectly obvious to anyone that there is not going to be any harvest in this area. May I say I highly approve of the methods adopted by the memorialists. They went through their farms to ascertain what the damage was. They scheduled the damage done and they asked the Government to send down an inspector there and then. They did not ask them to send down an inspector in December, when they would be in a position to say "we had so many acres of potatoes, oats and meadow destroyed, but the evidence is not there." The evidence is there to-day, and it is to-day that these memorialists ask the Government to send down an inspector to verify the figures that they have put before the Government. As to the facts, it is for the Government to verify them. As to how this matter originated, I would point out that so far as I am personally concerned I do not trouble the House much with questions. When I put down a question it is not to advertise myself but to try and have information gathered or action taken in a particular matter. This question that I put down, and which has been treated in this rather cavalier manner, was the result of two meetings. Perhaps I might read part of the memorial sent up. At a meeting held in Drung, Co. Cavan, the following resolution was passed:—
That we call upon the Government to take immediate action to relieve the farmers, who are in a deplorable condition by reason of the crops being ruined by the unprecedented rainfalls and floods, the like of which have never occurred before in living memory—oats, potatoes, mangolds, meadows, turf and grasslands—all useless in most places, after all the expense and labour that has been entailed. Heavy land that escaped flooding is sodden to such an extent that the crops are also ruined, and this dreadful deluge, following a succession of bad seasons, is bound to give the farmers a clean knock-out. Accompanying the falls of rain has come the drop in produce prices— flax, pigs, butter and eggs, are almost not worth having. Under these adverse circumstances people who are already overburdened cannot meet their present responsibilities. It is said that he who gives quickly gives twice, and never was immediate action more required, so we again call upon the Government to show good, sound diplomacy by extending the time limit of the payments of the annuities so that the people may tide over the present calamity.
What I want to point out at this stage is that I do not blame the present Government to any great extent for the lack of proper drainage. Unfortunately we are up against the situation in County Cavan that we are dealing with an area where the trouble is really created in Northern Ireland. Some engineers hold that the obstruction is caused by the sluice gates at Belleek, and others hold that it is due to the narrow neck between Upper and Lower Lough Erne, and that a scheme to relieve the flooding would cost £800,000. Whatever it would cost, £800 or £800,000, the fact remains that citizens of this State are suffering in consequence of the inattention of the Northern Government, or possibly because the Free State and the Northern Governments will not come together to relieve the nationals of both Governments from flooding in Lough Erne. I do not want this question to be dealt with as a Departmental question. It must be dealt with by the two Governments, and must not be used as a precedent for saying that otherwise everyone would be looking for compensation. I quite admit that the whole responsibility is not on our Government. They have some responsibility. Why do the Governments not come together and say: "We are prepared to relieve the flooding and to spend a share in removing whatever obstruction there is in the River Erne in Northern Ireland so that our nationals would be relieved." The question then would be what proportion should be borne by Northern Ireland and what proportion by the Free State? It should be dealt with similarly to the way that the Free State Government deals with minor drainage schemes. Whatever economic value there is in the drainage in the Free State and whatever relative economic value there is in Northern Ireland, in that proportion the two Governments should contribute. Something must be done.
The people in Belturbet area are subject to flooding every winter, and they are living in a constant state of despair, hoping against hope that the floods will not come in summer before they can save their crops. They are up against that situation every year, but this year they cannot save the harvest because they have no crops to save. They are sailing in boats over the oat and potato fields. The Government should have the district inspected, and not consider the question of giving relief work on roads. Roads are not wanted. The thing is to relieve the farmers now, and the Government has sufficient evidence if they send inspectors down to see the place. I am not in the habit of putting down questions for the sake of talking, but I will read a letter that I received indicating the general temper of the people:
(3) Pledging themselves not to pay rent or rates until their demands were granted, and to stand by one another to defeat the attempt to seize their cattle.
These men have signed a bond amongst themselves to stand by one another, so that it is a serious matter.
(4) Pledging themselves with the men of Fermanagh as a last resource, if their requests were not granted, to have the flood-gates at Belleek blown up, even though precious lives may be lost in the attempt. We might as well die there as die of starvation at home.
These men are not Bolshevists. I know for thirty years the man who wrote the letter. He is an honest and honourable man. These are the type of men who are going to take the bit between their teeth. These men are determined, if the farmers in County Fermanagh are content to lie down and allow the sluice gates at Belleek to be an obstruction between the Upper and Lower Lakes, because their Government will not take action, that they are not going to do so, and to let their land be flooded because a few yachtsmen in Enniskillen want the high-water level maintained for their amusement in the summer. Every Government has attempted a solution of this flooding question on the Erne. It was attempted long before the Free State was set up. Engineers differ about it. Why? In my opinion they have different opinions because they approach the subject in the way that two farmers would approach a drainage question. One employs an engineer to say "Yes," and another employs an engineer to say "No," and the result is that the water is kept at the present level for the amusement of the yachtsmen of Enniskillen. The thing to do is to go to the Northern Government and to insist on the water being let off, so that the people will not have to take the law into their own hands.
When the Minister is replying I do not want this question to be dealt with in a departmental way. The memorial was addressed to the President of the State, and I do not want it brushed aside by a statement that it does not belong to a certain department. I want the Minister for Finance, who is here as the head of the Board of Works, and as Vice-President of the State, speaking on behalf of the Government, to say what is going to be done in view of the terrible condition of affairs that exists in County Cavan. I want the Vice-President to say what action this Government will take in co-operation with the Northern Government, so that there may be a permanent cure for this flooding.
In order to show that my statement has not been exaggerated and to give some idea of the sufferings of the people in the Lough Erne area, I will read a statement from Mr. Michael Fitzpatrick, of Derravona, giving instances of tragedies and losses arising out of the floods:—
In one case a man's potato crop was under water; he could do nothing to save it, and his body was found in the river next morning.
Whether that was an accident, a matter of despair or suicide, I do not know. Several cases of suicide occurred in the district.
In harvest floods he saw two boys working hard but unavailingly to save their hay. Subsequently one of them had to be taken to the mental hospital. The other followed, and later died from shock. When the next flood came, the first brother had to be taken away again. In a third case, across the border, a fine young woman and her son had become confirmed invalids as a result of their terrible experiences while trying to save their crops from the floods.
The House should bear in mind that these are what might be called annual floods. I am asking the House now to deal with the exceptional summer flooding. I do not want the House to take my word, but to have inspectors sent down to see the damage so that immediate action may be taken. I do not care what source the funds are taken from. It is a matter for the Government. The trouble is due to the fact that the Northern Government is not doing its duty. The people of the Free State are being flooded out, and it is the duty of the Free State Government to see that their people are not at a loss, and that the present state of affairs should not be allowed to continue.
