Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I have the OPW here, I will ask about Heywood Gardens. We are lucky to have Heywood Gardens and Emo Court. We do not have a coastline but we have Heywood and Emo in Laois. They are two wonderful facilities. I do not want to go back over this again but Mr. Conlon's predecessor came back to me with an explanation as to why all the natural woodland at Heywood was being bulldozed, with all of the wildlife going with it. That should not have happened. In the process of doing that, a lot of the pathways were absolutely destroyed. In wet weather, the pathways are now mud in places. Can something be done with them? There are lovely walkways but, when walking through the gardens in wet weather, parts are not in good shape. It is a question that is being raised with us and with local elected representatives. Will the witnesses come back to me on that? Money was spent clearing out all of the natural vegetation. It was not Chinese knotweed; it was the same natural vegetation you would see on the floor of any natural forest in Ireland. Some of that money should have been put into the paths. It is the one weak point. It is noticeable when going down to Gill's Pond from the entrance. The witnesses might come back to the committee on that within a week or so.