Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in and engaging with us so fully throughout this process. At the outset and for a point of clarification on Mr. Rowe’s contribution in response to the Minister's question, I will be suggesting and recommending that Waterways Ireland come back to us again when they have revised their pricing. Obviously pricing is a key issue. The €200 charge on the River Shannon in particular is a red-line issue. In anticipation that the figures were finalised for today, I had intended writing to the Minister and asking that the committee also write to him and request that he not accept the draft by-laws. In view of what the witnesses have said, I will be requesting that Waterways Ireland come before the committee again in the autumn, with finalised proposed draft charges. The witnesses have been very forthright and have given us all the information. As people living on the River Shannon, what we are concerned with is the marked decline in the number of people using it, as the largest waterway in this and the adjoining country. There was a 21% drop in people using the river between 2018 and 2023. Members will have seen a significant article in The Irish Times last week, almost a page in length, in which many of the business owners in the community were spoken to. This was directed at business owners in the Leitrim area in particular.

They voiced serious concerns about the drop-off in people using the River Shannon. The concern with the new by-laws for the River Shannon is that they will further alienate the people who only go out on a boat one day in the year.

What I am disappointed with personally is that we have not seen a plan or a strategy to encourage more people on to the River Shannon, in particular. We are probably seeing here an effort to constrain access to the River Shannon and to make it harder for people to get on to it. For people and businesses, particularly in counties Longford, Offaly and Leitrim, the River Shannon was a lifeline for those key summer months where we had tourists coming. When I went back to my home town last weekend specifically to check it, I only saw two boats moored in Lanesborough whereas at one time we could have had anything up to 30 commercial boats moored there at the weekend. That is particularly disturbing.

One of the questions I would like the witnesses to address is why no research has been undertaken on the actual number of people who are using the boats and why there is no research in the fall-off in the number of boat users. Is the effort now to monetise the use of the Shannon not putting the cart before the horse at this moment in time?

The substantive issue is the registration fee. I understand from some of the Shannon boat users that in their informal discussions with Waterways Ireland there has been a possible misconstrual as to some movement on the €200 charge. I will await to see what Waterways Ireland comes back with in the autumn on that. That is very much a red line issue.

I ask the witnesses to come back to me also on the marketing and why we have not seen any research from that body on the fall-off in the numbers and why that has happened.

I have one further point to make on the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal. I refer specifically to by-law No. 22(1)(f). I am assuming that I understand what motivates that by-law but in anticipation of the response, could the witnesses outline how many boats are moored illegally, not in the Grand Canal Basin but in the linear canals in Dublin at this time? I could understand by-law No. 22(1)(f) if there was a significant issue with the illegal mooring of boats but my concern and that of canal boat users is that if that by-law comes into law, it will never be possible to allow the mooring boats inside the 12th Lock, which would be hugely detrimental.

We have seen from our travels both in Europe and London that there are large boat communities within which people are both living and enjoying life almost in a village-like status in key areas along canals. With the stroke of a pen, we will probably eliminate that possibility forever for Dublin city if we do that.

To repeat, can Waterways Ireland came back to me on the absence of research as to the fall-off in the use of the River Shannon and deal also specifically with by-law 22(1)(f) as to how many people are currently moored illegally on the linear canals in Dublin?