Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Select Committee on Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht
Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 33 - Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Revised)
5:00 pm
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will address the question on the greenways. The Deputy is correct. If we do not have buy-in from landowners, then we have a problem. Previously, I was in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and we ran into difficulty in Galway. The project had to be suspended. I am not a believer in the CPO process if an alternative is possible. If we cannot get negotiation, we have a problem. There may be certain times when we may need to use that option, but I am not a believer in it. The best way forward is for communities to try to work this out for themselves.
I know I have said it already but the greenways have been one of the greatest successes, especially in towns in rural Ireland. They have given the likes of Newport, Mulranny and Achill a major lift in tourism because of the numbers of people coming in summer and winter. All I can say is that Kerry has a very good tourism product and this would add to it.