Vol. 305 No. 5
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he will clarify the question of ownership, liability and maintenance of the Grand and Royal Canals so that individual local authorities would be free to expend finances on amenity works on these canals if they so wished.
25.
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he has received a submission from CIE and/ or the Inland Waterways Association in relation to opening the Royal Canal for navigation; if he is aware of the job-creation potential of such works; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 64 together.
CIE are the present owners of the canals but there is nothing to prevent anybody, whether local authority, voluntary body or otherwise, from undertaking improvement works on the canals provided, of course, they clear their proposals with CIE in advance.
As regards the Royal Canal, although a number of bodies have expressed views and the Inland Waterways Association have advocated its restoration, I have had no very recent submission in the terms mentioned.
Any decision about the future of the canals would, naturally, take account of the job potential of whatever works or development seemed justified and also the longer term potential arising out of the possible development of the amenities.
As regards future plans I have not yet completed my consultation with the other bodies concerned so that the position is basically as I indicated it in my reply of 19 October 1977.
Is the Minister aware that in the case of the Royal Canal, Dublin City Council have a clear policy which has been referred to his Department that the canal should be refurbished and retained as a linear parkway, retaining the present water and so on in it? Is he also aware that CIE who presently own the canal have stated very clearly in writing that they cannot maintain the levels of water, the lock gates which have fallen into a state of disrepair and cannot justify expenditure to retain the canal in any type of decent condition? Would he agree that urgent action is necessary and would he kindly ensure that this ad hoc committee, which have been meeting for some years, will bring a final report to his attention?
In reply to the first part of the Deputy's supplementary, I am aware that the Minister for the Environment introduced a scheme of grants to local authorities for certain environmental protection works and that Dublin Corporation allocated a certain amount of this money towards improvement works on the Royal Canal. With regard to ownership of the canals, the Deputy is aware that discussions have been going on for quite a while to try to identify who should take responsibility for them. Like the Deputy, I would like to see a conclusion reached but discussions have not yet been completed.
In view of what the Minister said, does he accept that the present owners are not capable, or apparently able because of finance, to carry out even the most minor works?
I do not want to comment on that. I am having discussions to see——
I would prefer that he did.
——where eventual ownership of the canals will lie.
When will we have a result?
I do not know. As soon as consultations are completed I will make a decision on it.
CIE said it was necessary for them to retain the canals to protect the lines running on the banks. Is that still the position?
That was suggested in relation to one of the canals.
I always mix the two.
I am not sure if CIE suggested this or if somebody else suggested that because the canal ran alongside the railways, CIE should retain it.
CIE suggested it.
Would the Minister address himself to the cleanliness of the canals? Some of the locks are very dirty and in the summer young children often swim in this green foamy stuff.
There are a variety of problems. If the question of ownership was established we might go ahead and deal with these other problems.
Is the Minister aware of the tourism potential of the canal network? Would this not be an appropriate time to look at the overall development from a tourism and amenity point of view in view of the fact that the canals are an integral part of the whole inland waterways network?
I am very well aware of the potential of the canals. If we could get the question of ownership cleared up, which is not very easy to do, I would hope that we could proceed on the lines mentioned by the Deputy.
Leaving aside the question of ownership, would the Minister consider delegating to the local authority the job of maintaining the banks of the canal and keeping the water clean?
As I mentioned already in my reply, a local authority or any other voluntary body can undertake improvement works on the canal provided they clear this with CIE.
Has the Minister any idea when a decision will be made on the question of ownership.
I could not say at this moment.
Even roughly, months or years?
I cannot say at the moment.
That is not very satisfactory.
I have answered a considerable number of supplementary questions.
The basic question still has not been answered.
