€12m left unused by body for inland waterways

Almost €12 million in funding was returned to the Government unused in 2003 and 2004 by Waterways Ireland, the body that restores and maintains waterway systems around the country, it has emerged.

The North/South implementation body did not use €8.2 million in funding in 2003 and €3.7 million in 2004, allocated to them as part of two budgets.

Waterways Ireland (WI) is 85 per cent funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and was established in 1999 under the British-Irish Agreement.

The organisation is also sponsored by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland.

Based in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, it has responsibility for about 1,000km of navigable inland waterways including the Royal and Grand Canals, the Shannon-Erne Waterway, the Lower Bann Navigation, Shannon Navigation and the Erne System.

The organisation also owns a number of properties around the country including two houses in Dublin, on Percy Place in Ballsbridge and on Lennox Street, which have remained undeveloped and are becoming derelict.

Former councillor and Fianna Fáil representative for Dublin South East, Chris Andrews, called for "root and branch" reform of WI.

"This underspend arises not because the organisation has completed its work efficiently rather it comes at a time when Dublin's Grand Canal, a hugely underdeveloped community and tourist resource, is one of the most neglected in the country," he said.

He said that the houses in Dublin owned by the organisation could be made habitable and used for housing staff, which was the intention originally, or as an income stream.

"Instead they are becoming a focus for antisocial behaviour," he said.

He added that he would be setting up an action group to highlight the neglect of Dublin's canals.

A spokeswoman for Waterways Ireland said that the funds returned to the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs were for a number of specific capital projects including the restoration of the Royal Canal and the construction of office accommodation at Enniskillen, Carrick-on-Shannon and Scarriff.

"Due to planning process delays and the postponement of other work, the projects didn't advance as originally scheduled," she said. "However, the funding returned in 2003 and 2004 forms part of a five-year rolling capital programme and was reprofiled for budgets in 2005 and 2006."

Since 2000, Waterways Ireland has invested almost €4 million in capital projects on the 131km Grand Canal including secure floating moorings at Grand Canal Basin and landing jetties at all the locks the spokeswoman said.

She also pointed out that a unit had been established to draft a policy on dealing with the organisation's vacant properties.

"This process is nearing completion and it is hoped to go to public consultation in 2006," she said.