Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 9 July 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government
Waterways Ireland: Discussion.
3:00 pm
Mr. Éanna Rowe:
We have a mixture of uses for our lockhouses right across the navigations. I mentioned earlier that we are transforming a lockhouse in Victoria Lock for use as a public convenience for those who are visiting Meelick Weir and all that goes with it. We also have a group of lockhouses that are still being occupied by our lockkeepers. That system of a lockkeeper being employed by Waterways Ireland and having accommodation predates Waterways Ireland. It was discontinued before Waterways Ireland came into existence. We have lockkeepers still living in the lockhouses. We also have another cohort of lockhouses that are used by community-based or tourism-based activities and offerings, whether that is cycling hire, canoe hire, cafés, etc. We hope to have a programme of investment in the just transition area. We have an application that we are preparing for just transition to look at bringing forward further proposals regarding 16 lockhouses, particularly around their future use as potential accommodation for tourists.
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