I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the provisions of Section 23 of the Transport Act, 1958, in relation to the Royal Canal only so that C.I.E. will be empowered to close that canal to navigation on two months' notice; as the law stands at present C.I.E. could not close the canal to navigation unless it had not been used for public navigation for three years or more.
The Royal Canal, about 96 miles in length, extends from the Port of Dublin to the Shannon at Tarmonbarry. It passes through the Counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Longford and served the towns of Dublin, Mullingar and Longford. Longford was served by a branch (about five and a half miles long) from the main line of the canal a few miles from its junction with the Shannon.
The Royal Canal was constructed under the provision of a Charter of Incorporation of the Royal Canal Company under the Great Seal of Ireland in 1789. Ownership of the canal passed to Great Southern Railways Company from the Midland Great Western Railway Company under the Railways Act 1924; and subsequently, ownership passed to C.I.E. under the Transport Act, 1944. Neither C.I.E. nor their predecessor ever operated a commercial transport service on the Royal Canal. Commercial navigation on the canal has in fact ceased since 1951. The Broadstone branch of the canal was closed in 1927 and subsequently filled in. Recently the Longford branch and the section from Spencer Dock, Dublin, to Liffey Junction were closed to navigation. There is no longer access to the canal from the Port of Dublin. During the past 4 years there has been no public navigation on the Royal Canal except in a technical sense, that is to say, by locally owned row-boats or canoes.
In that period the canal had been used on 14 occasions only and the total revenue derived by C.I.E. from tolls in that period amounted only to £10 5s. 1d.
I would have been quite satisfied to allow the position of the Royal Canal to continue as at present until the five year term for the reorganisation of C.I.E. was completed in July, 1963. The question has arisen, however, of the replacement of various road bridges over the canal and it has been found that the cost of replacing these bridges will be increased substantially if they have to be designed to provide for navigation. For example, in the case of the "Dublin" Bridge at Mullingar which is due for immediate reconstruction, the cost of the new bridge will be increased by about £8,000 if it is necessary to provide for navigation. A similar position will arise in respect of other bridges on this canal which must be reconstructed in the near future. If such bridges were to be reconstructed to allow for navigation shortly before the closing of the canal to navigation the Minister for Local Government feels, and rightly so, that the Departments and the Local Authorities concerned would be open to criticism for wasteful exepnditure.
The Minister for Lands is at present giving consideration to the possibility of developing the canals generally for coarse fishing and eel fisheries. The closing of the Royal Canal to navigation will not prejudice any plans in this respect; in fact it should clear the way for further consideration of such plans.
Lest there should be any misunderstanding on the point I would mention that the closure of the Royal Canal to navigation would not affect the other obligations of C.I.E. in relation to it. C.I.E. would continue to be responsible for such matters as drainage and prevention of flooding and if subsequently they should wish to abandon the canal these responsibilities will be transferred, if necessary, to some other body or bodies. Needless to say, permission to abandon the canal would not be given without due regard to interests in respect of which C.I.E. retains responsibilities nor would such permission be given unless it were clear beforehand that abandonment would not prejudice proposals for development of the canal for other purposes.
As to the future of the Royal Canal, the present intentions are that the portion of the canal between Liffey Junction and Mullingar will be retained indefinitely for water supply purposes; the portion of the canal west of Mullingar will also be retained for the time being, but ultimately it may have to be abandoned unless it is found possible to develop it for some other purposes. The portion of the canal between the Liffey and Liffey Junction and the Longford branch have already been closed to navigation.
It will be noted that this Bill deals solely with the Royal Canal. The position in relation to navigation on the Grand Canal was explained by my predecessor in the course of the debate in this House on the Transport Act, 1958. The provisions of that Bill as introduced would have enabled C.I.E. to close a canal to navigation on one month's notice. It was, however, strongly felt by various interests that the Grand Canal still had a potential for future development, and to meet those views the Bill was amended to provide that C.I.E. would close a canal to navigation only where it had not been used for public navigation for three years or more. The intention of that amendment was that those interests which supported the retention of the canal would thereby have an opportunity of demonstrating that the canals would be used to an extent sufficient to justify their retention for navigation; and in relation to the Grand Canal that situation will remain unchanged at least until the end of the 5-year period allowed to C.I.E. under the Transport Act, 1958, for reorganisation of the transport services.
In all these circumstances and bearing in mind the urgent necessity to provide for reconstruction of certain bridges over the Royal Canal, I consider that the legal requirement to keep the canal open to navigation should now be repealed and, therefore, I recommend that the House give a Second Reading to this Bill.
