Vol. 520 No. 4
179 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the total financial outlay to date on the development of Lough Allen, the opening of the canal to Lough Allen and the placement of the refuge structures in Lough Allen, County Leitrim. [15966/00]
To enable navigation to be restored to Lough Allen thus adding a large additional tract of navigable waters to the Shannon navigation, a lock and associated works were constructed at Drumshanbo and two stand alone isolated moorings were provided on the lake to allow boats moor in bad weather. The approximate financial cost since 1991 to date is £1.6 million.
As the Deputy is aware, Waterways Ireland is a North/South Implementation Body for inland waterways, which was established on 2 December 1999 on foot of the British-Irish Agreement and the supplementary Implementation Bodies Agreement signed in March 1999. It has the functions of management, maintenance, development and restoration of certain inland navigable waterways systems throughout the island, principally for recreational purposes. Responsibility for any further outlays on the project referred to by the Deputy rests with the agency and not with the Minister.
