Flood report finds lack of direction and national policy

The issue of flooding is back in the news this week, with two developments of potentially significant consequence to the Firstly, yesterday (Tuesday), a special Oireachtas committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government published its report on how the State handled the major weather events of late last year and early this year. It will come as no surprise to many that the report indicated that the overall response to the severe flooding and heavy snowfall of late last year was inadequate and lacked clear direction. The report finds that while some aspects of the emergency response were positive, there was a clear absence of effective co-ordination and management of the situation, which mitigated against an efficient and well organised response to the events. This would tally with the experiences of many locally, who found the individual responses of members of the county council staff, Gardai, army, civil defence and voluntary bodies to be hugely heartening. However, the absence of a guiding hand, dictating the overall direction of the relief effort, was also clearly evident. During its deliberations, the Committee heard from Met Éireann, ESB, County and City Councils, the Minister for Environment and others. The report said there seemed to be distinct lack of clarity regarding who was ultimately in charge of directing the response efforts. Too often it found that the various State agencies defined their responsibilities more in terms of what they do not include rather than what they do. This led to a disjointed and confused reaction. The report also points the finger at the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Minister. It's ironic that during the floods and big freeze, Minister Gormley had been particularly critical of the local authorities' handling of the situation, but this report refuses to allow him wash his hands of the problem. It correctly argues that national co-ordination and strategy must be centred in the department. It is also important to note that the report recommends that the Government should oversee an independent review of the role of the ESB's Hydro Electric Schemes to examine the conflicting requirements of electricity generation and flood management. And it says the OPW should substantially increase its funding to flood risk management and prepare a national strategy for river drainage and maintenance. It also calls for flood warning systems to be put in place on all major river systems. This are all important and worthwhile recommendations, though it has to be asked why these relatively simple and logical recommendations were not already in place. Meanwhile, also this week, it emerged that Dublin City Council has opted to pursue plans to extract millions of litres of water per day from Lough Derg before piping it to a holding lake on the Offaly/Laois border. It means the proposal to take the water from Lough Ree has been jettisoned. The concept had sparked anger across the Lough Ree region previously but last year's floods had left many asking whether a winter abstraction could help to alleviate flooding in the midlands. The decision to opt for Lough Derg means the impact on tourism, boating and fishing would be minimal, whilst any water taken out of the Shannon system can only help to allay fears of a repeat of the record floods of last November.