Vol. 461 No. 7
157 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht his views on Deputy Lawlor's suggestion regarding the putting together of a slide-video information package on the upgarding and development of the Grand Canal and Royal Canal corridors for use in local areas along the canals to engage public interest and support for the projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3563/96]
I wish to thank Deputy Lawlor for his continuing interest in and support for the strategy and proposals for both the Grand and Royal Canals.
In relation to the Grand Canal, I established a task force in January 1995, chaired by Senator Pat Magner to provide the impetus for the implementation of the Grand Canal corridor study strategy and proposals.
A regeneration officer reporting to the task force was appointed in October 1995 and has been working very closely with community groups along the canal but projects directly involving those groups on the canal and the production of a slide-video package is not a priority at this stage.
I recently launched the Royal Canal corridor study and this has been widely distributed to community and other interested groups. I will consider in due course any views submitted by such groups together with the recommendations in the study and the proposal made by the Deputy will be considered in this context.
