The Junior Minister overseeing the OPW insists that flood prevention works along a stretch of the Nenagh River are being “maligned wrongly”.
In supporting the works to remove many fallen and vulnerable trees near the town, Patrick O’Donovan has also strongly criticised objections recently voiced about the works.
Some environmentalists say the works are heavy-handed, and concerns have also been raised about a resulting problem with flooding down-stream.
Minister O’Donovan insists the works are necessary, and are receiving plenty of public support from locals.
“If you have a kind of damming effect which is what’s happening in a lot of cases, you run the risk of the river banks falling in. you run the risk of huge amounts of silting.”
“You actually wind up where you get unintended knock-on consequences of flooding as a result of the non-maintenance of the banks and not removing of the trees.”
