Mr. ?anna Rowe:

A Chathaoirleach agus a baill den choiste, gabhaim buíochas as ucht cuireadh a tabhairt dúinn arís inniú chun teacht in bhur láthair agus dréach fó-dhlíthe na Sionainne agus na Cánálacha a phlé libh. I thank the Chair and members for the opportunity to return to the committee to update it on proposed changes to the canal by-laws and the Shannon by-laws.

I am the operations controller in Waterways Ireland. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Patrick Harkin, inspector of navigation.

Respecting the time restrictions, we have provided a more expansive briefing document, which provides additional information about our remit and the Deputies and Senators should have that with their papers.

By way of introduction, Waterways Ireland was established 25 years ago under the British-Irish Agreement Act. We are a cross-Border navigational authority responsible for some 1,100 km of inland navigable waterways across the island of Ireland. Our statutory function is to manage, maintain, develop and restore specified inland navigable waterways, principally for recreational purposes.

Over the last 25 years we have achieved a lot. We have completed the restoration of the main line of the Royal Canal, with our colleagues in the RCAG, from Dublin to the Shannon, crossing counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Longford. We have doubled the mooring capacity on the Shannon, increasing berthing at numerous locations and catering for over 3,000 visitor berths.

We have established new boating destinations on the River Suck to Ballinasloe in County Galway, the River Boyle to Boyle in County Roscommon, Cleighran More on Lough Allen in County Leitrim and the River Inny to Ballymahon in County Longford. Through investment, development and on-site works, we have transformed many waterway assets, including Meelick weir, which connects east Galway to west Offaly, the castle and Connaught harbours, Portumna, County Galway, Killaloe marina, County Clare, Carrick-on-Shannon and Leitrim village, County Leitrim, Lough Key marina, County Roscommon, Athlone, County Westmeath, Cloondara, County Longford, the Round O, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and many more. We have also developed and promoted more than 600 km of greenways and blueways in counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan, Fermanagh, Clare, Tipperary and Galway. We create social, economic and environmental well-being, valued at over €600 million annually, for the public good of the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland. As many committee members are aware, we are undertaking the restoration of the Ulster Canal. This is a transformative project of scale and significance that will link navigation from Lough Erne to Clones.

My colleague, Mr. Harkin, and I appeared before this committee on 21 September to engage with it on the proposed changes to the by-laws. At that meeting, members made a number of observations and suggestions about the public consultation process and the substance of the proposed by-laws. As agreed, we considered those issues and the 933 submissions that we received during phase 1 of the consultation. One of the first suggestions made by many of the members was to consider an extension of the public consultation. To recap, we commenced the public consultation on 19 June 2023 with the intention of concluding it on 2 October, which would have been a period of 108 days. Following engagement with this committee and with the consent of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, we extended phase 1 to 133 days. We are pleased to report that the concern raised by the committee that people would be confused by running the consultation on the canals and the Shannon together did not come to pass. We received 933 submissions in total. A clear distinction was identified, with 733 submissions relating to the canals and 537 relating to the Shannon. Three hundred and thirty-seven related to both sets of by-laws.

A second suggestion from the committee was that we enhance our public engagements and hold additional one-to-one stakeholder meetings. Following our appearance here, we broadened and deepened our public and stakeholder outreach with many of the groups suggested by committee members. This included all relevant local authorities, chambers of commerce, local tourism groups, State agencies and sports and recreational groups. We also increased our social media reach and frequency with information on the by-laws. Over the period of phase 1, we held public meetings in eight locations. These were attended by more than 600 people. We held 24 meetings with relevant stakeholder groups and local authorities. In addition, we announced that we would carry out a second phase of the public consultation process. We communicated with more than 2,500 stakeholders on 15 January to let them know that we had commenced phase 2. It will conclude on 26 February.

Informed by the 933 submissions, we published a detailed report on phase 1 of the public consultation on 15 January outlining the revised draft by-laws. Many of the concerns raised by committee members are addressed. A copy of the consultation report is included in the information we sent to the committee. In the briefing document we submitted with this opening statement, we have outlined the detailed purpose of the revisions. It is our intention that the cumulative effect of the revisions to the by-laws will be to make our waterways safer, protect those using our waterways, blueways and greenways, and continue to provide a wonderful recreational experience for everyone to enjoy.

As part of phase 2 of the consultation, we published the revised draft by-laws for the canals and Shannon navigation along with explanatory notes and the public consultation report on our website. We again advertised the consultation widely in the national and local press, across social media channels and online. We will be hosting two public consultation information events at which stakeholders will be informed about the proposed by-law changes. These will be in the following locations: Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, on 6 February at 6 p.m. and Mullingar Park Hotel on 7 February at 6 p.m. We have presented the revised by-laws to members of Offaly County Council and the Nenagh MD of Tipperary County Council and received positive and welcoming comments in the discussions that followed. We have invited the public to visit the Waterways Ireland website or to visit one of 17 public libraries where copies of the draft by-laws, explanatory note and consultation report are available to view. We are inviting comments and submissions in writing, by email or on the submission form on the Waterways Ireland website.

Having considered all 933 submissions received during phase 1, we have made changes to the proposed by-laws to endeavour to equitably deal with legitimate concerns raised. The changes from the phase 1 proposals include the introduction and extension of a five-day rule on canal harbours to facilitate watersport activity, the continuation of winter moorings on the Shannon navigation, the removal of a proposed three-day rule at certain harbours on the Shannon navigation, the removal of a proposed speed limit on our greenways, blueways and cycleways, and a reduction in proposed houseboat permit fees in suburban areas of the canals. We believe that these substantial changes to the proposed by-laws will alleviate the concerns of most stakeholders and address many of the issues raised by committee members.

Waterways Ireland is proposing to revise the Shannon by-laws and canal by-laws with a view to updating the regulation of our waterways. The by-laws are over 30 years old and their application to the navigations are no longer fit for purpose. The needs of those who use our waterways, blueways and greenways have changed, the environmental landscape and health and safety considerations have evolved significantly, and the waterways themselves have been transformed. Our by-laws need to reflect this. The public consultation will end on 26 February and we in Waterways Ireland would once again ask all interested parties to have their say and contribute to the process by making a submission.

A Chathaoirligh, we are more than happy to address any questions from you and the committee members present.