Vol. 426 No. 1
58 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Finance who has responsibility for the drainage of the Drowes River in County Leitrim; if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties and damage caused to farmers and other interests in counties Leitrim and Donegal because of the flooding of the Drowes River; the plans, if any, he has to have remedial work carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Drowes River flows north-west from Lough Melvin and enters Donegal Bay just west of Bundoran. While I am aware that some flooding occurs in the area, this river is not included in the priority lists of catchments which comprise the arterial drainage programme and in the circumstances there are no plans at present to undertake a drainage scheme in the catchment.
59 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Finance if the cost benefit analysis for the arterial drainage of the Owenmore and Arrow Rivers catchment area in County Sligo has been completed; if so, the outcome; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
60 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Finance when work will start on the arterial drainage of the Owenmore and Arrow Rivers catchment area in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 60 together.
The Owenmore-Arrow Catchment is No. 16 of 28 catchments on the priority list of major catchments — catchments over 100,000 acres in extent — being considered for treatment under the Arterial Drainage Acts.
The field studies in connection with the environmental impact assessment have been completed and studies in relation to the cost benefit analysis were also undertaken. In the context of this analysis it was necessary to examine a variety of options before determining the optimum scheme.
Early indications were that it would be difficult, and may be impossible, to formulate any scheme which would give an economic return for the investment involved. In the circumstances, the local drainage committee was consulted by the Office of Public Works in an effort to ensure that all potential benefits were identified. They subsequently listed a number of additional areas which they considered might benefit from the scheme and these areas have now been examined.
The final stage of the analysis is in hand and the results will be available shortly. The current position is that the prospect of devising a viable drainage scheme is not good.
