James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is astonishing, although I am not giving out to the witnesses about it.

I am based in Ranelagh in Dublin, and I regularly walk along the canals. It is fair to say that it is a hideous eyesore in terms of what has happened. There is the question of balance in that if we remove them, do we have a situation where a huge encampment of tents arises again? Waterways Ireland made the decision to erect the fencing. Did it have a discussion with any of the NGOs or charities involved that were giving tents to those who were taking up emergency sheltering on the canal at the time to stop them from doing so?