Senator Denis Landy will this week again question Mr. John Tierney, CEO of Water Ireland at the Oireachtas Environment Committee on the provision of a reservoir at Garryhinch, Portarlington for a stable supply of water to the Leinster region.

Senator Landy said: "I have already raised this issue with Mr. Tierney at a previous Oireachtas Committee and was advised that more information would be available at the meeting in early February. I believe that it is incredible that whilst the Shannon has overflowed and destroyed many households and farm buildings along its route, right down as far as Lough Derg, that only fifty kilometres away residents are living in fear of water shortages again as we face into 2014.

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"It is time to stop this ridiculous situation. We have the solution to this issue in our hands. The current water shortages annually have profound implications for not only domestic users, agri-business, horticulture, commercial food production, hotels, restaurants but also on Foreign Direct Investment. The development of this reservoir as a national resource could be a win- win for everyone. It will of course require a full consultation with residents living at or near the abstraction site and will take account of economic, environmental, ecological concerns as well as setting out a clear community dividend for people living within the abstraction zone. The proposed project is in the pipeline now for almost twelve years and will still have a minimum three years lead in time but it needs to be included on this round of Capital Investment Projects.

"I am calling on Environment Minister Phil Hogan to include it for 2014. This is a €500m Strategic Infrastructure Project that can create 1,000 jobs in construction and hundreds of long term jobs down the line."

(CD/MH)