Sinn Féin TD for Roscommon - Galway, Claire Kerrane has called for a "permanent solution" for flooding at Lough Funshinagh in Co. Roscommon.

Speaking in the Dáil this morning (July 17), Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran outlined that Lough Funshinagh is a designated special area of conservation turlough, and has experienced increasingly severe flooding in recent years.

An interim flood relief system was switched on on Friday, March 28 to pump water from Lough Funshinagh to the Cross River, within the townland of Carrick in Co. Roscommon.

However, Deputy Kerrane has said that the residents of Lough Funshinagh "want and need" to see progress on a permanent solution.

She said: "Farmers with lands around the lake have suffered incredibly as well. This has been a real loss and has had a real impact on people, their livelihoods and their families.

"People have passed away in the meantime. I am thinking of one gentleman who never got the chance to live to see the current solution being put in place.

"Therefore, we need to ensure that the supports for the families who live in the area are there, whether it is in respect of damage, farmers, land or whatever. We need to see those financial supports for people who have lost a great deal," Deputy Kerrane added.

Minister of State Moran informed Deputy Kerrane that a long-term solution to the flooding is "on target for planning" by the end of the year.

He said: "I acknowledge and appreciate all the work that has been done, particularly by the people and those in the farming community who live around Lough Funshinagh.

"As stated, we are on target. This is a good-news story for the people of Lough Funshinagh. I have visited the householders there on a number of occasions," Minister of State Moran added.