Vol. 558 No. 1
477 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason the dry dock in Richmond Harbour, Clondra, County Roscommon, has been out of use since the early 1990s; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this requires boaters on the River Shannon to travel great distances to get to a dry dock; if he will investigate the matter thoroughly and ensure the dry dock is re-opened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23668/02]
Waterways Ireland is one of the six North-South implementation bodies established on 2 December 1999 by the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999, and the North-South Co-operation Order 1999. Waterways Ireland's remit is the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterway system, principally for recreational purposes. The matter raised by the Deputy is a day-to-day operational matter for Waterways Ireland.
Waterways Ireland informs me that the dry dock at Richmond Harbour was closed on health and safety grounds. The re-opening of the dry dock is being considered at present and investigations into the feasibility of this have commenced. However, Waterways Ireland is not in a position at this stage to say whether it will re-open and the timescale involved in doing any works which might be necessary to achieve this.
