AFTER MIDLETON IN Cork was flooded in 2023, then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that what he had seen in the town was “at a different scale” to anything he had seen before.

“The floodwaters were up to my arm. It was not just water. There was dirt, mud and sewage. A huge amount of damage was done,” he said.

He referred to the need for more flood defence schemes for towns but noted that “it is not just about flood barriers. We have to consider the impact inappropriate land use can have on flooding and drainage”, adding that “we need a land use plan for Ireland”.

Then=Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visiting flood-stricken Midleton in 2023. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Land use is relevant to flooding because water falling from the sky will pass through or over the ground before entering rivers. When water does enter a stream or river, the speed with which it flows downstream is influenced by the shape and depth of the river, as well as whether its historic floodplain is available to store water.

Land with trees, particularly native forests with their tangle of roots that penetrate deep into the soil, as well as intact bogs and wetlands, can act as sponges, attenuating the volumes of water entering rivers.

Lowland rivers that still have natural meanders, with lots of fallen trees and dead wood, or with access to adjacent floodplains, will move relatively slowly. Ecologists refer to these features as natural ecosystems, and they are home to rich biodiversity, as well as providing water and flood protection for people, businesses and infrastructure.

Major clean-up in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, after the River Slaney burst its banks during Storm Chandra. Rolling News Rolling News

The problem in Ireland is that we no longer have natural ecosystems. We have cleared away our natural forests, dug out peatlands, converted hills to conifer plantations, drained wetlands, compacted soil under the weight of millions of farm animals and straightened rivers to create yet more grazing land.

Historic floodplains have........

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