Vol. 540 No. 1
395 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the plans she has for the refurbishment of barges such as the barge refurbished in Athy, County Kildare; if there are other barges that can be so refurbished; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19881/01]
The refurbishment of four canal barges was undertaken by my Department in association with community groups based at Athy, Shannon Harbour, Clondalkin and Mullingar.
However, as the Deputy will be aware, the canals are now under the control of Waterways Ireland, a North/South Implementation Body under the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999. I understand from Waterways Ireland that it has no more barges available for a community barge refurbishment scheme.
