Patrols to deter tents along Dublin's Grand Canal to cost taxpayers €170k

Barriers at the Grand Canal to prevent tents from being set earlier this year up in August. File picture: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ie

Round-the-clock patrols to “deter tented encampments” on a stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin city are set to cost the taxpayer up to €170,000 over the next two years.

Waterways Ireland has put out to tender a contract for a two-person team to provide “enhanced patrolling” of a 3km stretch of the canal south of the city centre on a 24/7 basis.