Mr. Fintan O'Brien:

I thank the Deputy. He put his finger on one of the key issues with regard to the expansion here. Not only is it complicated but it is a very emotive issue for a lot of different actors. That idea of access to farmers' lands and responsible usage is absolutely key. Without the co-operation and goodwill of our farmers, life would be an awful lot more difficult with respect to rolling out these facilities everyone gets to use. That landowner role is absolutely essential.

From our point of view, when we see that walks scheme expanding, we see that as a sign of us making progress in ensuring we are cognisant of the concerns of the landowners. We are bringing them in through consultation and it is not a top-down process. We are not forcing them to do anything. We are fully aware of that situation. Part of the rural regeneration officer role is that direct engagement and that is one of the main reasons they are put locally. It is not something I can control from my office in Dublin or Ballina. It is very much a local thing, that engagement and understanding. Those exact concerns may differ from locality to locality so that engagement has really been important.

For Comhairle na Tuaithe as well, there is quite a lot of work going on regarding exactly those kinds of issues the Deputy is talking about, such as access, damage and responsible usage. It has developed a booklet regarding the Occupiers Liability Act 1995, as well as general commentary on property rights and access to land. It is also doing a report on the research into behavioural change. That behavioural change is a tricky thing to get to but it is absolutely key. I refer to that understanding that you may well be on someone else's land and how your behaviour should reflect that. There is quite a bit of work going on in Comhairle na Tuaithe with regard to that as well. That idea of access, landowners and that co-operation will always be at the centre of what we are doing in this space.