THE COST OF fencing along the Grand Canal in Dublin, erected to stop homeless people seeking asylum from pitching tents along the banks, cost over three times more in the first month than what Waterways Ireland told politicians, The Journal can reveal.
The agency, which receives funding from the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, spent €117,845 on the installation, maintenance and hiring of fencing between May and the first week of June.
The Waterways Ireland CEO told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in July that his agency had given the direction to erect the fencing along the canal for ‘health and safety’ reasons.
Documents, released under an Access to Information on the Environment request, reveal the enormous costs that Waterways Ireland were accruing in its attempt to keep the area in Dublin’s city centre clear of tents.
The cost is much higher than what Éanna Rowe, the agency’s operations controller, told …