Mr. Joe Parlon:

On the question Deputy Coonan asked about the critical areas on the River Shannon, if the committee brings in officials from the OPW, the most important point to establish is who has responsibility for the maintenance of the river. Mr. Michael Collins has clearly told us that responsibility for maintenance of the Shannon lies with Waterways Ireland. The OPW has washed its hands of any maintenance work. It did some maintenance work, as Mr. Michael Collins said, on the new cut in John Curtin's time. Even though it has said that it is still looking at old legislation in this respect, it has told us that Waterways Ireland has this responsibility but, to my mind, Waterways Ireland has no intention of doing any work on it.