The Oireachtas Environment Committee report from July 2012 should be considered in decisions made to deal with climate change, according to Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy.

She said the recent flooding is alerting Ireland to the fact that "climate change is real".

She said: "The River Shannon has been flooding in winter for centuries. However, the onset of summer flooding, coupled with an increase in the incidence of torrential rain in recent years, has alerted us to the fact that something else is happening, namely, climate change.

"Climate scientists tell us that extreme weather events will become more frequent, with more intense rainfall and high river flows expected to become the norm.

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"In 2012, a summer flood also caused havoc along the Shannon catchment, including the Shannon Callows in west County Offaly, parts of north County Tipperary and other midlands counties. As a result the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and Gaeltacht produced a report containing eight proposals urgently required to tackle flooding on the River Shannon.

"The first and most important recommendation was to appoint one agency to oversee management of the River Shannon. The joint committee recommended that this agency be the Office of Public Works. It envisaged that all other agencies would be obliged to follow directions given by the OPW if their response was not sufficient to have a positive impact as soon as storms were forecast.

"I welcome the Government's decision to establish a River Shannon Task Force and I appeal to the Minister of State, Simon Harris, to ensure that the OPW takes into account the report of the joint committee before making a final decision on the terms of reference."

(CD/LM)