MORE FENCES, REPAIRS and replacements have led to price of fencing on Grand Canal increasing from €45,000 for two months to €30,000 per week this month, according to Waterways Ireland.

The fencing was erected after a multi-agency operation was conducted at the canal site in Dublin to remove a number of tents where people who were seeking international protection, and who had not been offered State accommodation, were residing.

On 4 July, Waterways Ireland told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the fencing had cost them €45,000, in total, since they were first erected in May.

However, in a statement to The Journal yesterday, the agency said the cost was now €30,000 per week.

Responding to a query about the dramatic increase, a spokesperson for Waterways Ireland said it has added additional fences on the Canal since they were first erected and, in some areas, they have had to re-erect or replace fences due to damages.

According to a statement to The Journal, there is now 8.5 kilometers worth of fencing along a 2.5 kilometers patch of the canal, “and as a result costs have risen to €30,000 a week”. 

The Journal has asked if Waterways Ireland believe more fencing could be erected in the future. Earlier this month it told PAC that more fences would be erected if more tents appear along the canal.

Waterways Ireland detailed that the weekly rental is invoiced monthly, leading to a bill of around €120,000 each month. The Journal has asked if the correct public procurement procedure was followed during the process of these increases.

The spokesperson did not detail when the costs of the fencing increased but did confirm that the details given to PAC earlier this month were correct.

Waterways Ireland also told TDs at that same hearing this month that it, so far, has spent more than €145,000 on removing tents and erecting fencing. 

This week, a coalition of activists tore down the fencing at the site during a protest on Thursday evening. The group called for an “end to the construction of hostile architecture” at the canal in Portobello.

Waterways Ireland said: “We acknowledge that the current fencing situation along a stretch of the canal is not ideal, but it is necessary to mitigate risk to health and safety which is our overriding concern.”

Yesterday the agency said it has engaged with local community groups about the process of reopening the canal and has promised to do so. Waterways Ireland added the removal of the temporary fencing was “not helpful”.