I move:—
That Dáil Éireann is of the opinion that ameliorative measures of a permanent nature for the relief of farmers in the flooded area of the Shannon Valley should be initiated immediately by the Government.
Anyone listening to the Tánaiste during the discussion here for the past couple of hours must have noted the anxiety expressed as to the desire that the question of apprenticeship should be dealt with in co-operation with the trade unions and that that should be brought into consideration in the next couple of months. Anyone listening to those statements would think it a most desirable thing that some anxiety for the good of the community would be expressed or portrayed by the other members of the Cabinet. We all know perfectly well that the subject matter under discussion for the last couple of hours could well be postponed until there is more agreement, but on the subject matter of the motion now before the House, I think that the time is overdue for immediate action.
It is not my intention to delay the House in painting a sad picture of the conditions in which people along the Shannon Valley have existed for the past 25 or 30 years. Instead of that, it is my intention here to put on record the various statements and replies made in this House over the past ten years to queries as to the steps different Governments proposed to take to improve the conditions of the people whose homes and farms are flooded every winter along the Shannon Valley.
The Government have been in office since March of 1957. As soon as this Dáil came into session after the general election, I had this motion placed on the Order Paper. The motion has lain there since March of 1957 and it has been held there over the heads of the Government, in order to ensure that they would be reminded every month, while that motion remained on the Order Paper, of the conditions that obtain in the Shannon Valley. There were, indeed, a number of occasions on which the motion could have been discussed. I think it would have been unfair on my part to have sprung the motion on the Government after their first two or three months in office. No one will suggest that at this stage it is unfair, after almost two years in office, that the Government should be asked to state specifically what its programme is in connection with the Shannon Valley.
My first knowledge of the whole sad problem of the Shannon drainage came to me in 1948 and 1949 when I inspected conditions along that river. I started the ball rolling here on November, 24th, 1948, by requesting the then Parliamentary Secretary to ensure that the sluice gates at Meelick were kept open and that even that slight ameliorative measure would prove beneficial to the farmers upstream whose lands were affected by flooding. Instructions were issued, after that request here in the Dáil, to have the sluice gates opened whenever there was danger of flooding between Athlone and Meelick.
The next step taken to bring the light of publicity on this problem was on 9th March, 1950 in a question here, when the Government were asked what steps they proposed to take in order to remedy the terrible conditions existing along the Shannon. The reply given by the then Parliamentary Secretary was that no practical scheme could be devised. That was a sad answer for the people concerned. A number of other Deputies in all Parties took up the problem with their organisations and the matter was raised in this House on a number of occasions, from March, 1950 onwards, during the next two or three years.
As all Deputies will remember, we had a change of Government in 1951. The incoming Parliamentary Secretary, when he was queried as to what steps this Government proposed to take in connection with flooding, replied in similar terms to those of his predecessor. The individual responsible between 1948 and 1951 was Deputy Donnellan as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance. The Parliamentary Secretary from 1951 on was the late Deputy Paddy Beegan. I find that the practice has been that, whether it was the inter-Party Government or that of Fianna Fáil, while they were out of office they were full of sympathy for the people along the Shannon Valley but when they got into office, it became a very heard and difficult task which would tax the resources of the country. So, between the two groups, the people of that locality began to lose faith completely in the words of any politician.
The first sign of hope for the future came on 31st January, 1952, when the then Minister for Lands, the late Deputy Derrig, was asked by me here whether he would consider making suitable alternative proposals for those farmers whose lands were constantly inundated by the Shannon flooding. The reply of the late Deputy Derrig at that time was:
"It is hoped to initiate a survey of this area shortly with a view to ascertaining, in consultation with other Departments, what can be done to ameliorate conditions."
That reply was given to me in this House almost seven years ago, that a survey was shortly to be initiated to see what could be done in regard to the removal of some of those people from the terrible conditions in which they were expected to live. The people in that area began to have some hope again.
I let 12 months pass and then, on the 11th February, 1953, I questioned the late Deputy Derrig again as to what progress had been made in connection with this survey. Again, the Minister's reply was that the survey had been made and was under examination at present. That was the reply made on the 11th February, 1953, in this House. I pressed him as to whether a scheme would be brought into operation to expedite the good work and get the unfortunate people removed from the locality, those who were willing and anxious to go. That was February, 1953, and it was a Fianna Fáil Minister who said that the survey was ready, had been carried out and was under examination and this is November, 1958, and we have a Fianna Fáil Minister in power and so far the promise of 1952 and 1953 has not been fulfilled.
Let us continue along the line. Some time elapsed and in December, 1954, there was a motion before this House dealing with the problem of the Shannon. There was also a number of questions tabled and the reply given, in brief, was to the effect that the Government were keeping the problem under review. Around about that time, Deputies will recall, the River Tolka here in Dublin overflowed its banks, and for the first time in the history of the people of Dublin they found that water was useful for more than making tea. They found that their mattresses were wet, their bedrooms were damp, their furniture was damaged and their homes became, for a period, very uncomfortable to live in.
The result was that the Dublin people, and rightly so, called together their Deputies of all Parties and at the time the Taoiseach's office, and the corridor to it, was choked with Deputies demanding that the Government do something to relieve the flood conditions around Dublin. Mark you, all during this period the people in the Clonown area had floods of two and three feet of water in their kitchens and their bedrooms. They had to sleep on boards raised six inches above the flood waters but they were told all along: "Nothing can be done for you, it is too big a problem."
At the time I must say that while I was sympathetic with, and sorry for the people of Dublin who had suffered from the floods, I felt that out of evil good might come, when applied to the problem of the Shannon, because the Government, through the representations and kicks which they got from their supporters and Deputies, brought in remedial measures. Compensation was given to the people whose homes were flooded and a general period of emergency was declared to ensure it would not happen again. Having done all this in Dublin, naturally enough a blind eye could not be cast on the problem of the Shannon and for the first time we had a recognition by the Government, and by the general public, of what the people in the Shannon area had to put up with.
We had reporters from the newspapers down at the Shannon, day and night. If there was a rise of one inch in the water level the reporters rushed to the telephones and the news appeared in the following day's newspapers—the dramatic statement that the Shannon had risen another inch. The extraordinary thing was that that particular flood condition was there every year for the last 30 years and there was no publicity worth talking about until the Tolka decided to rebel and left its normal course.
As a result of the publicity and the pressure brought to bear on the then Government, it was decided that something must be done. The easiest thing at the time was to ask: "How about getting in some outside experts to see what can be done?" Then the inter-Party Government made a big announcement that they hoped to get American engineering consultants over here who would carry out a survey of the Shannon Valley. The House was informed to that effect and the people in the Shannon Valley were also informed that the Government were expecting a team of engineers from America under Mr. Rydell to carry out a survey.
That promise was not much good to the people whose houses were flooded, to the people who had no stock or no hay for their stock or no means of conserving their crops. At any rate, it enabled the Government to postpone the day when something would have to be done. It gave a chance to the authorities to shelve the major problem. However, seeing that it was a Government decision, and as everybody hoped that in the long run something of a major nature would come from such expert opinion, we waited in patience. That information was given to us in December, that Mr. Rydell, the consultant, would be coming over here and the people in the Shannon Valley and the Deputies said: "We had better wait awhile to see what is going to happen. We waited long enough and there is no harm waiting for some time longer."
The first question on what progress was being made by this expert came in April, 1956. Deputy Sweetman, the then Minister for Finance, in reply to a question, stated that Mr. Rydell's final report had not yet been received. Questions were repeated from the 10th April all through July up to October, 1956, and the reply on 25th October, 1956, by Deputy Cosgrave, who was acting for the Minister for Finance, was that the report was not yet available. Then we had a change of Government and Deputy Sweetman who had been Minister for Finance decided that he would put down a question on the Shannon problem. He put down the question which I had been asking month after month. He asked the Minister for Finance, on the 20th February, 1958, what had he to say about the Rydell report. Deputy Dr. Ryan in reply said that Mr. Rydell stated that he had no simple solution for the River Shannon problem. He recommended that preliminary engineering investigation should be undertaken of the possibility of additional lake storage, river diversion and channel improvement. The Minister for Finance added that the Government approved in principle of this recommendation and said that "the investigation is at present being carried out jointly by the Commissioners of Public Works and the E.S.B."
That is as far as we have gone, so far as I can gather, in regard to what I heard described here as "a major report by a first-class expert on drainage" brought over here from America as a man who should be able to teach the Board of Works engineers their functions. As a result of that report, engineers have been chasing around the Shannon Valley inspecting the tributaries to the Shannon. I understand that one of their recommendations, or one of the points that Mr. Rydell suggested should be investigated, was that the River Suck's channel should be changed and that instead of following into the Shannon at Ballinasloe, a new cut should be made near Athleague and that the Suck should enter the Shannon at Knockcroghery. Engineers were paid to go down the country and investigate this. I do not blame the engineers; they were carrying out their work.
I do not know what other suggestions were made because I find it very hard to extract the details of the plans which are hatched, but I know that these recommendations are of little benefit as far as the major problem of the Shannon is concerned, and that it is only a matter of continuing to spend money all the time, without getting down to the major issue of dealing with the people along the Shannon whose lands and houses or general accommodation are subject to flooding.
There are two aspects of this with which I want to deal. The first is in connection with Mr. Rydell's report. What progress has been made now with regard to these surveys, in connection with further lake storage and channel improvement? What estimates, if any, are available in the Department of the likely cost of carrying out such investigations? Or shall I be told now, as I was 12 months ago, that the Board of works and the E.S.B. are still hatching this, when we know that for years past various reports and surveys were carried out by the Board of Works and the E.S.B. and that it is not now necessary to go round making an actual physical and practical resurvey of the areas?
The second point I want to deal with is: what happened to the plans prepared in 1953 to give alternative holdings to the people to whom the late Deputy Derrig referred in his reply to me in 1953? At that time, it was good to say that we were investigating and exploring and that we hoped that something would be done, but since 1953 we have had at least two very serious floods in that area, apart altogether from the number of houses and the large number of farms which are flooded from the end of November to the following January each year.
I understand from a local provincial paper that the present Minister for Lands—or landlords, if you wish— when he visited a secret Fianna Fáil convention in the Midlands, announced plans for the expenditure of £100,000 on ameliorating conditions for the farmers whose houses and lands were flooded. I was amazed at that: the Dáil had not heard a word about it. Naturally, attempts were made to find out what the position was and during the discussion on the Vote for the Department of Lands on July 8th, the Minister, when asked for further information about relief for the Shannon area said, at column 17, Volume 170, of the Dáil Debate:—
"About £100,000 is being made available from the National Development Fund——"
mark this
"——and a special corps of inspectors is being detailed to investigate all aspects and to prepare a specific scheme. It is hoped to complete the scheme in the current year and the next year."
That was the statement made on 8th July, last. On 31st January, his predecessor in the same Party said:—
"It is hoped to initiate a survey of this area shortly with a view to ascertaining in conjunction with other Departments what can be done to ameliorate conditions."
If that was not sufficient, on 11th February, 1953, when I repeated a question to him as to what progress was made in the survey announced on 31st January, 1952, the late Deputy Derrig replied:—
"A survey has been made and is under examination at present."
Now, we have the Minister for Lands saying, on 8th July, 1958, that a special corps of inspectors was being detailed to investigate and prepare a scheme.
I want to know if, even at this stage, people in that locality may take as certain that the present Minister will implement a scheme this year to remove from Clonown those men whose lands and houses are flooded? Will he be prepared to utilise the good land on the far side of the Shannon which is available to facilitate those unfortunate men who have asked for removal over the years? I know perfectly well that there are reports in the Department of Lands from gentlemen who went down from Dublin, queried the people whose lands were flooded in the Clonown area and asked a number of them if they would be willing to move. The extraordinary thing is that of the list of names submitted, the majority—not supporters of mine; most of them would be supporters of Fianna Fáil, God help them!—were never asked if they would leave the locality, although it was their lands which were flooded. Instead of that, the Minister got up here and asked: "What could we do when these people would not leave?"
