Mr. Peter Hynes:

We will certainly see to it that he goes there on his return.

We would welcome the establishment of further greenways. I have a good friend who is managing director of Foxford Woolen Mills and he informed me that he would always prefer to see a mill opening as opposed to being closed. If a mill is opening, then the market is rising. Thereafter, it is only a question of being competitive and obtaining one's slice of the action. We will attract many multiples of the current number of visitors to Ireland if we have sufficiently long networks. We are working with our counterparts in County Galway, who are seeking to have the Oughterard to Clifden line converted to a greenway. Our aim would be to try to connect this to Leenane. The route will not be entirely off-road but we will try to ensure that as much of it as possible will be in order to create the network. This would lead to the development of a greenway that would encompass a large chunk of the west coast.

If there is one specific thing we might do at these proceedings, it would be to appeal to the Department with responsibility for the single farm payment scheme to review the way in which it operates. Removing or reducing single farm payments has the potential to be an extremely precipitous move in respect of farmers who - for no return - have donated a small portion of their land for the common good. It is really important that this matter is tackled. Again, this goes to Government policy on the alignment of Departments and services at local level. The latter cannot be progressed quickly enough.