Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government
Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Patrick Harkin:
At the moment, the answer is "No", but that is not good practice internationally because boats could be connecting up to a high-voltage system with substandard electrical components. Indeed, there have been a lot of fires on boats and, unfortunately, there was a fatality on a boat on the Shannon in 2023. We propose that in these by-laws there would be a requirement for a certified electrical system, certainly on liveaboards in particular, given those boats are used every day and it is good practice to have certified equipment onboard a boat. Indeed, we are providing in these by-laws that fire extinguishers need to be on board, along with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. I do not think anyone is arguing against the safety measures we are bringing in with these by-laws.
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