Results 521-540 of 5,596 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I want to be careful about the tone of what I am saying because I do not want to escalate this, but this is not the first time Waterways Ireland has removed tents from a canal. It does that on a regular basis. Am I right in saying that?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I am aware of the incident in 2020 on the Royal Canal which involved the removal of a tent and the injury of a man. This is something Waterways Ireland does on a regular basis. My point is that the amenity has to be reopened. That is the objective. Not reopening the amenity is not an option. It is not as if there are four options. There is only one option and that is to reopen the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay, with that in mind, has a timeline been set for when this will be done?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Mr. Rowe believe that if there had been preventative security there, those numbers would have been allowed to build up?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay. If security is the long-term objective and it also would have prevented the issue arising, surely security is now the option.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: You have said that. I accept that and I support it.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: What is the cost of the current arrangements?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: What is the cost of the fencing on its own?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Is the fencing hired?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: So that is an ongoing cost.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: How much does it cost on a daily or weekly basis?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: The total cost for the fencing so far is €45,000 and it has been there for how many weeks?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: We can do the maths very quickly on that. I will do so afterwards. My point is that we are now incurring the cost and we are losing the amenity.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Dublin City Council has a lot of experience of dealing with activity in areas much larger than the area being talked about here. The basic principle here is that the amenity must remain open. The costs being incurred are costs to close it, whereas we should be directing the costs to open it. I will finish on that point.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I accept that. We were informed at the time that there was a multi-agency approach. However, Mr. Rowe's answers earlier seemed to indicate that it was not done in conjunction with other agencies. Is that correct? I ask Mr. Rowe to clarify that.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Who initiated the multi-agency response?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay, so Waterways Ireland contacted the other agencies. Obviously, this intervention followed the previous intervention on Mount Street. Was Waterways Ireland involved in that?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Perhaps it was an oversight not to have involved Waterways Ireland in the first removal given the proximity to the canal location and the likelihood that it might spill over and be displaced to-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I accept that. That is useful. I thank Mr. Rowe.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2022: Waterways Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: While no net income would be coming in or it might be offset, Waterways Ireland has an obligation to the people it is charging regarding the encroachment because they may have a competitor operating at a lower cost base because of Waterways Ireland's inaction. It cannot only be based on the income because obviously that would have a net impact on the renegotiation of any future agreements.