Vol. 566 No. 1
749 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the area of the Royal Canal in front of the Oaklawns Housing Estate and continuing right up to the roundabout at Ballymahon Road, Mullingar, County Westmeath, will be duly completed; if the said area will be levelled and seeded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11570/03]
The matter raised by the Deputy is a day to day operational matter for Waterways Ireland, one of the six North-South implementation bodies established under the British-Irish Agreement Act 1999.
I understand from Waterways Ireland that the area from a local garage to the Ballymahon Road roundabout consists of approximately four to five acres of ground, a large portion of which is maintained by Westmeath County Council by means of regular grass cutting. However, a small portion of this strip of land, close to the Ballymahon Road roundabout, is planted with a selection of woodland trees and I understand that the grass is left uncut, in its natural state, as a wildlife corridor, to complement the planted woodland.
