Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 21 September 2023
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
Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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We spent a lot of time recently on the legislation relating to marine protected areas, the Maritime Area Planning Act. How the consultation is done is also important. While simply opening a deadline, inviting people to make submissions and holding some public hearings might seem to the organisation running it to be open consultation, organisations often tell us - not only in relation to this issue - that they need something a little more hands-on and proactive. For example, when the National Transport Authority was holding its consultation on BusConnects, it went to supermarkets and shopping centres and reached out in a much more proactive way. That is dependent on resources, but I presume, in addition to being open to giving more time to this, Waterways Ireland might be willing to look at other ways of engaging so that all those who need to have their voices heard are properly engaged with. Would Waterways Ireland be willing to consider that?