Local Fianna Fáil Senator, Eugene Murphy, is launching a bill to help address flooding issues along the River Shannon, the aim of the new legislation being to remove outdated water level restrictions on ESB regulated lakes along the river.
“The River Shannon is an immense natural resource for our country. But as the frequency and intensity of flooding has risen over the past number of years its clear we need a wide range of measures to help protect vulnerable communities alongside its banks.
“This bill addresses concerns outlined by various community groups and aims to update old legislation in order to ensure the ESB has full flexibility in setting water levels on Lough Allen, Lough Derg and Lough Ree. This will help ensure that decisions on water levels are made in conjunction with relevant bodies without any legal constraint and will help to maintain an adequate, safe water level.
“Essentially the bill removes specific water levels from legislation and allows the ESB to continue to use its own expertise to set the levels in conjunction with other relevant bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Inland Fisheries and the local authorities.”
“This bill is not a silver bullet. There is no single solution to flooding along the Shannon. However, it has to form part of an overall package of measures to address the difficulties communities along the Shannon are facing,” Senator Murphy stated.
