Vol. 415 No. 2
42 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Finance the reason notice of termination of employment has been given to 11 employees of the Office of Public Works working on the drainage of the Bonet River, County Leitrim, in view of the fact that the work as laid out in the first schedule of the scheme is not completed; if he will outline the plans, if any, the Office of Public Works have to complete the drainage; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It has been decided to suspend work indefinitely on the Bonet catchment drainage scheme.
It is normal practice to terminate the employment of operatives engaged on arterial drainage schemes when works cease.
When the decision was taken to suspend work on the Bonet catchment drainage scheme, practically 91 per cent of the scheduled work had been completed. The reason for this decision is two-fold, environmental and economic. The upper reaches of the catchment contain valuable fish spawning grounds.
If works were done in these sensitive areas serious damage would be caused which would, no doubt, give rise to substantial claims for compensation. Some works have already been carried out on intermittent sections of the channels involved so the lands in question will not suffer significant loss. In addition, the river in this area has a steep gradient and flows through a narrow valley so that any flooding which does occur is very limited and of short duration.
There are no plans at present to complete the drainage work.
