Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome some of the points that have been made. My concern, as I said to the Minister the last time, is that in Carlow-Kilkenny there was no power given in respect of the River Barrow. One had the local authorities, the OPW and Waterways Ireland but one could not get them when one wanted them. My main concern is to ensure that in the 90-day consultation period Waterways Ireland contacts every local authority. I see that it says there should be communication with every local authority in the long term, but local authorities have a 90% input on this because every local authority is different from rural ones to city ones. Waterways Ireland needs to have meetings with them. Everyone will know his or her own area best and that is half the work done. By-laws are also crucial. Where some small works have needed to be done on the River Barrow, there has been no real point of contact and one did not know who was responsible. No one took responsibility. Going forward, by-laws are crucial but they cannot be made without every local authority having an input into the consultation.

Fees are something that need to be minimal. We must ensure that this does not go under the radar and that we cannot vouch for it. Fees must be kept as low as possible. I ask the Minister to ensure that Waterways Ireland visits and consults with every local authority. That is crucial.