Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Ministers on their appointments and wish them well in the important work they will be doing on behalf of all of us over the next number of years. As the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is well aware, our inland waterways are an important natural resource and we want to ensure that we maximise them for the potential of our people and visitors to our country.

There was substantial investment in our inland waterways in the 1990s and early 2000s, and it is now time to re-energise the inland waterways investment programme, ensure we protect the investment that has already been made and prepare our inland waterways for greater traffic movement. There must be ongoing investment and the existing infrastructure must be protected.

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