Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020
1318. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason Waterways Ireland is issuing commercial operating licences to businesses operating on the Shannon navigation in view of the fact there is no mention of a commercial operating licence in the Shannon Navigation Bye-Laws 1992; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4424/20]
View answerWaterways Ireland is responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterway system throughout the island, principally for recreational purposes, and is also tasked with the promotion, including marketing and development, of the tourism and commercial potential of the inland waterways for which it has responsibility.
In order to ensure appropriate management of the inland navigable waterways, legislative powers are provided under Bye-Laws.
Bye-Law No. 23 (1) of the Shannon Navigation Bye-Laws, 1992 states that “A person shall not carry on any trade or business in the navigation without the permission of the Commissioners”. Bye-Law No. 24 further empowers the Commissioners of Public Works to grant such permission “subject to such conditions as they consider necessary and specify to the person concerned, and the person concerned shall comply with any such condition. ”
Waterways Ireland have informed me that in order to manage and regulate operations on the Shannon navigation it is necessary to ensure that conditions and regulations are adhered to by commercial operators. This can only be achieved by entering into formal agreements with those commercial operators.
These agreements are in the form of commercial operating licences, which take account of individualised circumstances such as the type, and location of, trade being undertaken. The commercial operating licences provide the necessary conditions to ensure effective management of the inland navigable waterways.
The powers vested in the Commissioners of Public Works under the Shannon Navigation Act, 1990 were subsequently transferred to the Minister for Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht under Statutory Instrument No. 332/1996 and then through Statutory Instrument No. 306/1997 to the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The functions of the latter Minster were then transferred to Waterways Ireland pursuant to Section 11(1) of the British Irish Agreement Act, 1999.
