Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will not make a long speech. I commend Deputy Dowds for the Bill and the work he carried out in bringing it forward.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív said he wished this change could be made through a voluntary proposal with farmers and land users. There has been some success in adopting a voluntary basis, but the process has come to a stop. It is timely that the Bill has been introduced to encourage a new push for greater access to the countryside. As Deputy Dowds pointed out, this is not just about access to the countryside, it is also about sustainable jobs in rural areas. In the past couple of days I was surprised to learn that in respect of the Sheeps Head walk in west Cork, 350 sustainable jobs had been created which had not been impacted on by the downturn. Given that we are looking at mechanisms for creating sustainable jobs outside urban areas, that is very positive. It is, therefore, more about job creation than access to the countryside.

I had the pleasure of being on the greenway and spoke to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, recently. He told me about the enormous impact it had had on places such as Mulranny and that jobs had been created throughout his constituency. "Nationwide" covered the issue recently. The benefits include not only the jobs created within areas but also the joining of villages, towns and schools. A group of children could cycle back and forth to school safely. If we can progress the Bill with the co-operation of landowners, there are ancillary benefits to be gained. There is no great urban-rural divide. We all want safe access to the countryside which can lead to the creation of sustainable jobs, result in safe routes between towns and villages and safe routes to schools. There is a huge number of knock-on benefits.

The Minister of State said that on Christmas Day the weather was terrible, but lots of tourists were out walking. A Sinn Féin Deputy referred to Dublin, Cork, and Galway having a lot of visitors on short-term city breaks. I spoke to people who went to Spain recently on a walking holiday. They went for three days and over a number of months and years intend to cover 100 km. We need to do some work. We need to discuss the benefits of investment per euro/per kilometre. We would be very surprised by the results. It is self-evident that this will lead to the creation of jobs and give a clear financial return, never mind the health benefits, to which Deputy Broughan referred. I would probably agree with him; he should probably go out on the walkways a little more.

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