Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It only applies if they do the things prescribed. At the beginning of the section the word "may" is used rather than "must". There is nothing driving Waterways Ireland to do this. On the issue of taking water from canals, for example, boats would not take that much water, but others might and Waterways Ireland might want to license and charge them for doing so, which seems reasonable. Why should charges apply exclusively to boats that take water from canals and not to anybody else?