Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I thank the witnesses for their time and for coming in. From listening to the views expressed this morning, it is clear that everyone is in favour of greenways, but a blockage has definitely occurred.

I am based in Sligo. The first thing I want to find out about is that there was a consultation process that happened about the Bellaghy to Collooney greenway. There were three stages of that and it was going to be used as a greenway. There was only one owner and that was Irish Rail. I would like to know how much all those stages cost. Now, it is just left there. What stage is the project at now? Is it going back to phase 1? It still says on the website that it is at phase 2 but we now know it will be retained as rail and only used for rail. To me, it seems like a savage waste of money that it was allowed to go that far.

That was a consultation with just one entity. It seems there is a disconnect between consultations with landowners. I have represented someone myself who had concerns that the Sligo, Leitrim, Northern Counties Railway, SLNCR, greenway would go through their land. I raised a representation but they still have not heard anything back about it. They were raising concerns because it was actually going through their garden. They are very much in favour of having a greenway and they see the benefits of it. When will the annual review be published this year? We are coming to the end of the year. Is it private consultants rather than local authorities who are actually doing these consultations? Should there be a uniform approach across all local authorities such that it is employees of local authorities rather than private consultants? Do private consultants come in or is it people employed by the local authority?