Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That particular amendment is a cause of a concern to the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, in particular the increased fees. The fees have not been increased since 1986, as I understand it. It would be expected that those fees would increase with new investment and development of the canal network. The spirit of this amendment is certainly not to increase the fees, taking the rate of inflation from 1986 to 2017 into account. It is to ensure that the fees do not increase any further than that. There is a great fear there. It is a fear that is not underpinned in the legislation, that the fees would be drastically increased by Waterways Ireland. No one knows what the intention of Waterways Ireland will be. The lack of consultation by Waterways Ireland with the users on the canal network, including the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, which did not hear about this legislation until BirdWatch Ireland informed them of it-----