Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid I will have to ask my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to come back to Deputy O'Rourke directly on this matter because it comes under the Minister of State's remit and the Department with responsibility for local government and heritage.

On a related issue, and to update Deputy O'Rourke with information on current North-South co-operation, we had a good meeting yesterday with the Loughs Agency, in respect of which we have responsibility for North-South co-operation. The Northern Ireland Executive Ministers, Edwin Poots and Nichola Mallon, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I yesterday held the first meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council dealing with this area in four or five years. We covered both the Loughs Agency, water quality and environmental protection issues. There was a good outcome to the meeting. We will have to get involved in quite significant work, whatever happens with Brexit. The Loughs Agency has a critical role in our rivers and water management. The North-South Ministerial Council structure might give us a lot of interest in this area, but the Ulster Canal itself is the responsibility of a different Department.