Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)

I have one point relating to how dogs are getting on lands. It is not so much the night attacks, but the attacks during the day when people are leaving dogs loose. Dogs should not be on a farmer's land if it is private property. There is a slightly different issue if it is mountain land or commonage in certain places. In 2021, there was a proposal that all rights of way, which were rights of way through long use, would have to be registered. That was subsequently dropped. Would something like that be worth looking at? It would mean that rights of way that are currently open would be registered in the name of a person or a property. That would probably prevent walkers accessing farms because the rights of way to them would be cut off. The legislation proposed on rights of way in 2021 was subsequently dropped because it was felt it was too cumbersome with regard to rights of way of long use.

I do not know if that is something the witnesses feel would make a difference in terms of people out walking, etc., accessing lands.