James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I apologise as I had other commitments this afternoon. I do have an interest in this topic but I was not able to attend the start of this committee. I will not rehash and use arguments that have been made already.

I have a couple of brief points. I did hear a spokesperson for Waterways Ireland on my local radio station, Kfm, and a good case was made. There are a lot of boaters in the Gallery, and I deal with lots of boaters in Sallins, Lowtown, Robertstown, Hazelhatch and across Kildare.

A lot of effort is being put into the development of greenways, and rightly so. It is really exciting; the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan came down a few weeks ago to open the new greenway in Sallins. It is something I am excited about; it will go to Offaly and beyond and we are developing greenways across the country. However, greenways work because of the brownways in the middle. Without the boats and the canals, greenways are just walks in fields. It is the water beside them that makes greenways attractive and interesting. It is the towpath to a wider transport channel. I wish to encourage the development of brownways as a navigational passageway of boats up and down rivers and I believe it is a good thing if more people are encouraged to live on them. I deal with many houseboaters across Kildare and Sallins in particular. For tourism, ecological and environmental reasons and as part of a wider accommodation mix in a housing crisis, it is a form of accommodation that Ireland should be seeking to support rather than discouraging or making more difficult for people. It is an avenue that should be encouraged. For all the focus on the greenways, it is the brownways that make them what they are and I fully support the boaters and the boating community. As I said, I have been on many of the boats in question and I know many of the people and I wish to ensure their voices are heard. I apologise once more for missing the bulk of the debate but I sought to come in and make this point before the end.

I thank the Chair.