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

I thank the members of the committee. I do not sit on the committee but I have a significant interest in the topic. I live in Sallins and am very familiar with the houseboats at Sallins, Lowtown, Robertstown and Hazelhatch. Not only do I live beside them, but I also run beside them regularly.

I will throw out some points. I know we are under pressure with time. We have seen a lot of development of the canal greenways, which I really welcome, and with it canal tourism. It is something I am really excited about but it is important that the whole canal and towpath experience requires a central passage as well. Part of the attraction is the boats going up and down in the middle and the activity. That is why people are drawn to the canals. To make the greenways a success, we cannot forget about the brownway down the middle and that goes for everything, including dredging, maintenance, provision of boats and porting of boats. That is the first general point.

On how we support the boats, I agree with what Senator Boyhan said about the appeals and dispute resolution mechanisms which seem to be missing from the new by-laws. It seems that there are many anomalies with the by-laws generally. There seems to be a flat fee, whether the boat is 10 ft or 100 ft – I do not know if one could get a 100 ft boat down the canal. Regardless, it seems to be the same charge whether it is for a big or small boat and that seems unfair. I think it was Mr. Gleeson who mentioned the gentleman on the canal at Sallins, who is retired, not in great health and living on his own. He has been hit with a €2,500 charge all of a sudden. Any household would struggle with that but for a retired gentleman with some needs it is not easy at all. Some kind of means test or understanding might help. I am sure there are many more gentlemen like that. I have been on that houseboat many times, including last week when he was telling me all about this. I would ask that some provision be made for people like that. We have heard about the consultation and I would welcome its extension.

On the services they receive, recently someone raised the energy credit. We are facing into another winter. It is September and the weather has changed in the last few days. Last winter the State gave an energy credit to householders in, dare I say, regular houses. I tried might and main but I could not find a way to get that to people on the boats. Will Waterways Ireland work with the powers that be to make sure that is rolled out to people for the new year and the winter ahead?

We should be encouraging people to live on houseboats. It should be part of the housing mix, as was noted in the submission by the Irish Residential Boat Owners Association. I would love to see that. We all know we are in a housing crisis. It is worth doing as part of the fabric of the country; it adds to the gaiety of the nation and it adds a bit of colour. I could see myself trying to get a houseboat at some stage. Many of us would like the idea of it. We should not be capping them. Rather we should be expanding them and supporting them. Those are general points and there are a few questions in there. If there was a dedicated session on this, it would be very beneficial but I would ask that those points be taken on board.