Flaws in the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme necessitate urgent redress, local Sinn Féin elected representative, Deputy Claire Kerrane, has stated this week.
In a statement issued to the Athlone Advertiser, Deputy Kerrane, the political party’s spokesperson for Agriculture, questioned the intricacies of the existing scheme noting that immediate changes were necessary to support farmers whose land has been flooded.
Raising the issue in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Kerrane stated she had spoken with farmers detrimentally impacted by summer flooding in the Athlone hinterland and Shannon Callows.
“Farmers were completely distressed, worried about their livelihoods, stressed about being able to pay mortgages, bills and send children to college. The mental health toll of flooding cannot be stressed enough.
“They lost grazing and they were unable to save hay or silage as fodder for the winter months. Cattle also had to come off the land early in some cases and so larger quantities of fodder would be needed over a longer period of time.
“The farmers, along with the Save our Shannon Organisation, mounted a campaign for compensation and this was eventually announced by Minister McConalogue and welcomed in November of last year.
“However, alarm bells loudly chimed when the details of the scheme were made known and the figure of 230 farmers affected was outlined, making it apparently clear that not all those detrimentally impacted by the flooding would receive compensation,” Deputy Kerrane said.
The Deputy noted that “it is wrong” that a cohort of farmers affected by the flooding are “locked out of the Scheme”.
“The Minister recently confirmed that, to date, 268 of the 277 (97% ) applications have been processed and paid in respect of €736,398 on a total of 2,266 hectares. The Department’s own analysis estimates that approximately 2,500 hectares of grassland were impacted by flooding. However, there are question marks over their monitoring system as many farmers who have been flooded have not been offered compensation.
“I have heard of situations where farmers on one side of a flood plain have been compensated, but those residing and working in a similar location have been offered no money to assist them when their need is most.
“It also appears that what was initially announced as compensation for the Shannon Callows, has now become the Shannon Callows Special Area of Conservation (SAC ) and only lands in the SAC are eligible all of a sudden. The words SAC did not appear in the details of this Scheme when it was originally published. It is clear that the Government have done this to lock out farmers and save on compensation spend. This is completely unforgivable. If it is the case, I shall await the Minister’s response in this regard.
“Flaws identified in this Scheme need to be fixed with immediate effect and farmers whose lands have been flooded need to be supported. They have truly suffered enough,” Teachta Kerrane concluded.
