Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for missing the start of the presentation. I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee on an issue that is extremely important. I am a farmer and my holding contains the ruins of a castle and an old graveyard. I am well aware of the importance of people being able to access that graveyard in which the last burial was in 1974. It dates back to 1798 and is of great historical value. As a farmer, there are concerns about people crossing my land regarding livestock, safety, closing the gate, etc.

I also accept the point that this covers many agencies and many aspects that make the work of Comhairle na Tuaithe very difficult. I take it that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the lead Department in this. I note Comhairle na Tuaithe has used the Leader structure to hire some rural recreation officers. I ask the witnesses to explain the Comhairle na Tuaithe funding model in general terms. Is it geared to try to access funding through existing schemes such as Leader?