Danny Healy-Rae: Urgent plea to clear rivers after repeated floods
Danny Healy-Rae spoke about recurring flooding in his area, urging immediate river clearance and maintenance to protect homes, roads and businesses. He insisted the necessary works are common sense, saying they "couldn't take millions", and asked the minister to allow and fund silt and bush clearance and to reopen drains and inlets.
Flooding impact
He described houses, businesses and key roads repeatedly flooded, citing 16 houses previously inundated and the national primary road in 22 being flooded. He gave examples including a reputable family hotel that required costly refurbishment after flooding and local businesses and caravan parks repeatedly damaged.
Work already carried out and results
He recounted that, after repeated representations, a payment of 160,000 dollars was secured to clear bushes on a section of the river. He said that engineers had predicted only a 10 millimetre reduction in river level, yet since the 2019 clearing no houses or the road in that area have flooded in subsequent events.
Needed river maintenance and locations
He called for further clearance from Gottohoosh into Mokras to the lakes and back along the Lone River to Castlemaine Harbour, and for cleaning out the river around Castle Island which he said was last done in the 1960s. He warned that the Lone River has narrowed with bushes and silt, and sites named in his remarks include Din Flesk, Kinmearney, Whitebridge, Sneem Village, the Innie Bridge, Waterville, and Castle Island.
Barriers to local maintenance and simple fixes
He criticised restrictions that prevent local landowners and farmers from removing silt and said routine maintenance work has lapsed - the section man who kept inlets and drains open is no longer doing so. He argued many flooding problems are solved by reopening drains and removing obstructions rather than further reports and assessments.
Appeal to the minister and request for immediate action
He thanked the minister for visiting Kinmear and listening in the square, but pressed for urgent, practical action using existing excavators, equipment and manpower. He urged that the common-sense works be carried out immediately and said he expects to be told the outcome soon.
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Deputy Danny Hillary. I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about this very important topic here this morning. It is very serious and I am asking the Minister to listen to us because we are on the ground and we know what is happening. There is nothing more horrible than when a house gets flooded, the water comes in the door and the water comes up the toilets and the mess that that leaves behind is never forgotten by the family that that happens to. And it has happened a lot in our area and I am glad in one instance after several deprecations, after so much motions and following my request to Boxer Morden to come down to Din Flesk, he duly responded and he gave us a small amount of money, 160,000 dollars to clear the bushes on a section of that river. And we were told by Torbans and we were told by Seaframs, Minister and I am asking you to listen to this, that to do that work would only reduce the level of the river by 10 millimetres. Up until then 16 houses were being flooded, the national primary road in 22 was being flooded and that work was carried out last year in 2019 and in all the floods that we have had since even recently, no house was flooded and the road wasn't flooded. But there remains sections of work to be done, the rest of the river from Gottohoosh into Mokras to the lakes, that has to be done and out of the lakes, back along the Lone River, all the way to Castlemaine Harbour, because I will give you an example of a very reputable hotel and family, the Lake Hotel in Killarney. Their premises was flooded and they had to refurbish it and restore it at a savage cost, but their position is still the same. The Lone River has been narrowed with bushes and with silt building up and that work needs to be done urgently so what happened to them in 2015 and 16 won't happen to them again. So, there are places like, very close to my own door, where there have been flooded businesses, the Quill family and the Horseshoe and more people in the square there are under concentrate any time it rains. So, and there is a fall away from this square and there are things to be rectified, like removing a sewer that is blocking an Iverbridge, but there is a fall to the bay and that work needs to be done and it could be done. It is common sense, common sense we are talking about Minister and I thank you for coming down to Kinmear and I appreciate you very much and listening to us in the square. Sneem Village is being flooded, Sneem Village is being flooded, the Innie Bridge back behind it, the Innie Bridge west of Waterville and he showed it all now that place is flooded. And then there are places like Castle Island and the small rivers around it and here is the problem that the local landowners and farmers are not allowed to take one spoon of silt out of the rivers and then the town gets flooded. And the main river all the way is out of Castle Island and that needs to be cleaned out, it was done in the 1960s and hasn't been done since. You need maintenance and work, ongoing maintenance and it couldn't take millions at all to do this work, it's only all common sense and there are plenty of excavators and there is all kinds of technical equipment for taking levels. So there should be no reason why this work would not be carried out immediately and you see you have places like, as I said, along the Flesch River into Kinmearney at Whitebridge there, there is work needs to be done, there is a caravan park being destroyed there. It has been destroyed there on many occasions. So, and then we come to the smaller things, the more important things, the section man on the road that was keeping the inlets open and ensuring that the drains were being kept open. That's not happening and then we have floods going into people's yards and in their front doors because of the road is the river now in many instances because the drains and the inlets are not opened. And this is very simple, common sense work, Minister, and there doesn't need to be all these, I think there shouldn't, we have no need for all these reports and assessments. It's common sense work that when you come out on the ground, you can see what needs to be done. And we have, there is surely, there is surely enough equipment in the country to carry out the work and manpower as well. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. I hope you,you'll tell me this very soon.
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