I would like to thank the Leader of the House for his kind remarks on my first visit to the Seanad. I hope it will not be my last but, may I say, not on a permanent basis, with all due respect, a Chathaoirligh.
At the outset I would like to say that I welcome this opportunity of addressing you on the complex problem that is the Shannon basin and one which has a history of reports and investigations stretching back over the last 150 years. The reports all highlight the complexity of the problem in technical terms with huge financial implications which are compounded by the multiplicity and variety of interests involved. Indeed, the complexity of the problem may well explain the reluctance of successive Governments to attempt a comprehensive solution.
The Commissioners of Public Works have a twofold interest in the engineering aspects of the Shannon, navigation and drainage. On the other hand, the Electricity Supply Board have statutory control over water levels in the river, but it is their policy to exercise this control in a manner which maintains as fair a balance as possible between the various interests involved. There is an excellent degree of liaison between the two organisations.
The Commissioners of Public Works are bound by the Shannon Navigation Acts to maintain the Shannon as a public navigable river. The minimum levels of water required for navigation are maintained by means of various weirs constructed in the last century. Sluices which were subsequently provided at those weirs are always operated to discharge water in excess of what is required for navigation so as to give the maximum relief possible from flooding. Manipulation of the sluices, however, has only a very limited effect in times of high flow in the river.
The maintenance by the Commissioners of the required navigation levels and by the Electricity Supply Board of the levels required for electricity generation are often cited as the main causes of flooding in the basin. This is simply not so. The basic problem is that the capacity of the channel is not adequate to cater for the volume of water involved. Accumulation of silt is also alleged to be a major cause of flooding in the Athlone to Banagher section of the river but, again, this is not so. There is no evidence of large-scale silting and isolated patches contain only small quantities, the removal of which would have no perceptible effect.
The solution to the problem is possible only in the context of a drainage scheme for the entire catchment under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, from which the Commissioners second interest derives. Under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, the Commissioners are the authority responsible for arterial drainage. An unusually large flood in December 1954 which caused severe and prolonged hardship highlighted the problem of inadequate drainage of the Shannon. The Government of the day sought the services of the US Army Corps of Engineers, a recognised world authority on flood control, and in August, 1956, Mr. Louis E. Rydell of the US Army Corps of Engineers made a detailed report outlining the problem and some possible solutions. He suggested, inter alia, (1) the undertaking of preliminary engineering investigations to test a number of the more favourable possibilities for the control of floods, selected from those postulated in his report; (2) the establishment of a Shannon River basin inter-agency committee — or commission — which would serve as a medium for correlating various points of view, advising on procedures relating to an overall investigational programme and co-ordinating its effective execution. This committee would exercise advisory rather than executive powers. Actual prosecution of engineering, economic, agricultural and other studies would normally be retained as a function of the appropriate, regularly constituted, Department or agency.
Subsequently, the Government approved in principle the recommendations of the Rydell report and initiated a first stage investigation of the problem. This investigation was carried out between 1958 and 1961 under the joint auspices of the Electricity Supply Board and the Office of Public Works. The joint report agreed with the Rydell view that a solution to flooding must be sought in combining the drainage of the main Shannon stem with a comprehensive plan for the tributary catchments, due regard being given to other users of the river. The joint report recommended a more detailed second investigation which would establish costs and benefits with an accuracy sufficient to enable decisions to be taken in regard to carrying out selected works. The report also agreed with the Rydell recommendation that consideration be given to the establishment of the inter-agency committee, which would necessarily include representatives to a wide range of authorities and interests, national and local. A recommendation by Mr. Rydell that a small, specially qualified task force capable of adequately representing all the various interests be set up to carry out detailed examination and design of drainage proposals was reiterated in the joint report. There the matter, I am afraid, rested.
There were no developments between 1961 and the late 1970s because of the other demands on capital resources and because of the large investment which would be required if the Shannon scheme was to be tackled. In the late seventies, the possibility of EC funding reactivated the question of the Shannon study. It was estimated that the study would then cost about £1 million, towards which a maximum grant of £400,000 would be made available from the European Regional Development Fund. Due to financial restrictions the carrying out of this study had been deferred.
Following the launching in October 1988 of a further report, commissioned by the Irish Farmers' Association, which reaffirmed the views of the Rydell and the Office of Public Works-ESB reports, the then Minister of State agreed to set up a River Shannon forum to serve as a platform for discussion between the large number of bodies with an interest in the Shannon and to foster a spirit of co-opertion and understanding. The first meeting of the forum took place in March 1989 and since then they have met regularly. Among the items most frequently discussed are flooding, tourist development and, of course, pollution, the responsibilities in relation to which lie with the authorities concerned.
In all the circumstances I would conclude by saying that it is not practical to allocate funds for the piecemeal works suggested in the question before us as they would have little effect on the complex problem involved. In any event, the commissioners would have no power to undertake them in advance of a comprehensive 1945 Act scheme. As I advised the Dáil in response to a parliamentary question on the matter just last week, the problem can only be solved by carrying out large-scale civil engineering works, involving substantial deepening and widening at very high costs. There are no plans at present to carry out such works.
