Mr. ?anna Rowe:

I thank the Deputy for his comments. The first point to make is that there is no window-dressing in our by-laws. I reject that completely. The assertion that we would undertake such a cynical exercise has to be rejected. I need to make that point.

On dispute resolution, as I said at the previous committee meeting, we have the exact same resolution situation as any other public body in the State. The customer services charter, recourse to the Ombudsman and so on are available to people who have a complaint about any level of service provided by Waterways Ireland. Those are the facts. I said that at the previous meeting and I am saying it again.

In regard to the fixed-penalty payment notice, which might be a separate issue or a conflation of the two, it is directly connected to the District Court. It comes from primary legislation, namely, the Maritime Safety Act 2005. Changing that Act is not in the gift of Waterways Ireland, nor is changing the process whereby a fixed-penalty payment notice, if it is not paid, is referred to the District Court. These are the exact same provisions that apply to coastal networks and other waterways. If any member of the public or a customer of Waterways Ireland has a complaint, the same complaints mechanism, including recourse to the Ombudsman, is available north and south of the Border. That situation pertains-----