Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy that I fully recognise the importance of the development of greenways and blue-ways throughout our island for the two reasons to which he referred. I wish to emphasise the sustainable transport aspect. In my visits to various points throughout the country I have been struck by the importance which local authorities attach to having their own sustainable transport strategies. In county after county I have met local representatives, directors of services or local authority chief executives. All point to the role of sustainable transport strategies in improving the lives of people in the areas they represent as well as helping its economic development.

I am very much aware of how greenways have already contributed to economic development and in particular the development of our tourism offering for domestic as well as international tourists. I have met experts in this area and they have made two points to me. First, the need for us to have more projects, in particular greenways of a certain calibre, throughout the country. Second, we need greenways of a particular length. This is because certain tourists are willing to travel to our country and spend money but they want to be able to use a greenway that will take many days of cycling to complete. This would allow them to spend time traversing the country and many different counties as opposed to a single or particular county. This is one of the reasons I am very supportive of the work that is under way - we have funding against it - for the Dublin to Galway greenway.

I hear clearly where Deputy Daly is coming from. He is looking for more of these facilities to be made available throughout the country, particularly in his county. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to confirm to Deputy Daly that the money is available now. However, we must continue planing in order that if and when funding becomes available in future we have projects that are ready to go. I assure Deputy Daly that I will be raising the need for this kind of planning and funding in these areas within Government.

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