In addition to emergency fodder deliveries made by the Department of Agriculture and Teagasc in recent days, agriculture minister Simon Coveney said the cabinet had agreed on a €2m Flood Fodder Assistance scheme.

Farmers whose feed supplies were destroyed by rising waters will soon be able to apply for compensation equal to the market value of the supplies lost.

Other decisions made during the meeting were the establishment of a new Flood Management Coordination Group for the River Shannon and a new Flood Forecasting Unit.

The new flood management group will take responsibility for coordinating flooding responses in the 66 areas along the Shannon identified as flood risk areas by the Office of Public Works (OPW). The OPW will present the draft terms of reference of this group within the next two weeks.

Responding to the news, Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath Robert Troy said the creation of a co-ordination group was "disappointing" and called for the establishment of a single authority to manage the Shannon instead. "this is grossly inadequate as the group will lack sufficient power to direct and manage the multiple agencies currently overseeing the management of the Shannon River," he said. "The Shannon River Agency Bill 2015, which I published last week, offers an opportunity to create a single new agency to bring together the various bodies and authorities involved in managing the Shannon," Troy added.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the establishment of a Shannon co-ordinating group is to be welcomed but it does not go far enough.

"The Government could and should have acted sooner in establishing a co-ordinating body for dealing with flooding in the Shannon region under the aegis of the OPW," he said. "The news that they are now to establish a taskforce is to be welcomed but it does not go far enough."

He added that it does not appear that the government’s proposed taskforce will have any legislative basis. "Sinn Féin believes that this is essential to ensure that it is properly resourced and empowered to carry out the level of work required. Sinn Féin will be introducing the River Shannon Management Agency Bill (2016) to this effect in the Dáil when it resumes next week."

Additional funding

Last month, Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, announced funding of €8m for local authorities to facilitate and support the on-going clean-up works being undertaken at local level in the aftermath of Storm Desmond. At Tuesday's cabinet meeting he was granted permission for an additional €10m.

Speaking after the meeting, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: "We are experiencing the worst ever period of winter weather, including six storms and record levels of rain falling over the last month. I have seen at first hand the devastation caused by the flooding and the Government is today providing extra funding to assist in the response to, and the clean up required, as a result of the flooding."

EU says it does not ban dredging

Meanwhile, the EU Commission has flatly rejected claims that its environmental rules are a cause of flooding or that they block action to prevent flooding. “EU law does not ban dredging,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. “The Irish Government does not need to notify the European Commission about plans to dredge rivers as there is no such obligation in EU legislation.”

The statement emphasises this point in relation to its key environmental directives. “The Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Floods Directive do not include detailed rules on how Member States manage their water courses,” it said. “That is decided by the Member States themselves.”

It added that “EU Nature Directives (Birds and Habitats) do not prevent measures being taken to protect lives and property. In particular they provide for situations of 'over-riding public interest' to permit activities that might damage a Natura 2000 site but which are necessary for human welfare.”

The Commission said that these directives do, however, require an assessment of all options available before activities that might damage a Natura 2000 site are undertaken.

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