Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before replying, I wish to make a point I did not have a chance to make in my initial contribution. I urge the Government not to sell the harvesting rights of Coillte. It is really important that this does not happen because it would put under threat existing access to Coillte's lands.

Is there any guarantee that private individuals will leave the paths in good order after they have availed of the harvesting rights? For example, in a case from Great Britain, right of access was not denied but the car park was closed, effectively blocking many people's access to the land. It is very important that we retain Coillte in its fullest sense in terms of the land and keeping harvesting rights. I hope the Government will accede to that.

I am very impressed that so many people contributed to the debate and I thank them. It was a more positive debate than I expected because the field mentality is still very strong in this country. I come from a rural background on one side where my ancestors would have been tenants and moved into land ownership as so many Irish people did.

It is a difficult issue. One of the primary reasons I introduced this Bill is that while I acknowledge that the work of the previous Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, was very significant and by voluntary means, his efforts and subsequent efforts led to significant progress in improving access to the countryside, particularly in scenic areas, a problem remains. What happens when the voluntary system does not work? That is why legislation is required. It would be great if it could all be done voluntarily. It is important to say that I thank the landowners and those who have co-operated to ensure that. We all benefit from their co-operation. However, we must deal with the fact that access is not always there. For walkers to get access to the Strawberry Beds, which is the northern border of my constituency, they must walk along the road from the Phoenix Park to Lucan. They would be very lucky to arrive alive having walked along that road because it is twisty and dangerous. However, the area is one of natural beauty and a green lung that has developed west of Dublin. That should be accessible to people. We do not need to own that land. It should be possible to have responsible access in places like that without disruption of landowners' rights.

Another issue that has been missed to some degree in the debate is the issue of walkers' rights in the less scenic areas of the country. I think 64% of walkers are Irish but much of the walking is done by people who want to walk from their front doors. If they do not live in the most scenic area, there needs to be a mechanism to allow for public access for them. We have all seen people with high-visibility jackets, women in particular, walking along twisty country roads. They wear the high-visibility jackets in the hope that they will not be mown down by a vehicle coming towards them. We should strive to get away from that, as has been achieved in other countries. Sweden has a law that says that everyone has access to every lake shore and the coastline. We need to move towards that. We are very fortunate in having beautiful lakes and rivers and a beautiful coastline, which some countries do not have, and we need to make them available to ourselves and tourists. Much of my Bill focuses on that.

Yes, we can take the voluntary route and I have no problem with that in so far as it is possible. The problem is that this is not always possible, which is why some sort of legislation is required in this area. I do not pretend that the legislation I have presented is perfect. It is not - legislation never is. In that regard, I appreciate the comments by the Minister of State and the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Public Expenditure and Reform that the content of this Bill should go to the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht for further direction because it is a real issue that must be dealt with. Some examples highlighted by contributors bear this out. Three Deputies representing Howth pointed out the threat to public walkways there. Those walkways are hugely important to this city and tourists and should be protected. Deputy Anne Ferris outlined what happened in Enniskerry, which was appalling. Despite all the evidence presented, genuine workers are left footing a huge court bill. We must deal with those kind of situations. Deputy Kyne made a thoughtful contribution in which he set out genuine concerns about vulnerable land that requires careful conservation in the west of Ireland. I accept that he has a real point but one advantage of this kind of legislation is that one could protect the areas where people actually walk. Those aspects of the debate need to be thought through. I accept the point that Deputy Durkan made about raging bulls but that issue must be faced in other countries. There are raging bulls in countries other than Ireland so there is a way of dealing with that. There is never an absolute protection for everyone.

I accept and welcome the bona fidesof the Minister of State that he will refer the contents of this Bill to the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht for further elaboration. I intend to see that this is driven forward. As the Minister of State knows, I was a pain in the neck to the county manager in South County Dublin until it was accepted that no building should take place beside the round tower of Clondalkin. I will pursue this with the same vigour.

I will not press for a vote on this. I look forward to the debate which will take place in the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. Let us be clear, I am determined that we should get a proper resolution to this issue.

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