Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

In its report on the national countryside recreation strategy, Comhairle na Tuaithe made the following recommendations. The Attorney General should be requested to examine restating and/or reflecting in legislation the current common law position on the protection of landowners' property rights where recreational access is allowed on their land. The Law Reform Commission should be requested to make recommendations on the broader issues of access to the countryside for recreational users focusing on the constitutional and legal position in Ireland. Comhairle na Tuaithe considered that no cost burden or liability, within the meaning of the Occupiers Liability Act 1995, should attach to farmers or landowners as a result of allowing recreational users on their land.

To ensure these issues were addressed as a matter of priority I established an expert group and asked that it report to me by 30 April last. Due to the short timeframe available to the expert group I requested that it initially consider issues in three broad areas. These were indemnity and insurance, whether bare licence should be put on a formal statutory basis and constitutional issues on the right to roam law including whether farmers would have to be compensated and a preliminary view as to whether the right to roam could confer wider access rights. I received the report in early May and members of Comhairle na Tuaithe were given until the end of August to put forward their comments and observations. The report will be discussed at the next Comhairle na Tuaithe meeting which takes place tomorrow, 2 November. The report is an objective legal opinion or legal advice. It is a report of legal experts, but every legal opinion is subject to what a court would decide. It is useful in that regard, but is not a policy proposal. It sets out the legal possibilities and informs our options for the future.

The issue of countryside recreation could be addressed through legislation or community agreement. I have always made clear my view that an agreed community approach offers a win-win situation for everyone with an interest in countryside recreation. Comhairle na Tuaithe comprises representatives of the farming organisations, recreational users of the countryside and state bodies with an interest in the countryside. Officials from my Department meet with Comhairle na Tuaithe on a regular basis. There is broad agreement in an chomhairle on the need for the protection of landholders and the need for reasonable access. There is also consensus within comhairle on preparing a scheme for the development and maintenance of agreed walks and work on the framework of this scheme is on-going in my Department, in full consultation with Comhairle na Tuaithe.

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