Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Teachta. I convey the apologies of my colleague, the Minster for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, who regrets she cannot be here for this issue. On behalf of the Minister, I thank Deputy Steven Matthews for raising this important issue and for giving me the opportunity, hopefully, to provide clarity on it.

Deputy Matthews summed it up very well when he said it was a very complex issue. As the Deputy may be aware, responsibility for the legislation for public rights of way sits with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, in the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. However, inquiries with this Department were made and we have been provided with some information on the matters raised.

The Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, legislates that it is a matter for the relevant planning authority to consider where there is a need for a public right of way. The relevant planning authority may enter into discussion with the relevant landowners under section 206 of the Act in order to achieve the creation of a public right of way by agreement. If an agreement cannot be reached, where it appears to the planning authority that there is need for a public right of way over any land, the planning authority may, by resolution, make an order creating a public right of way over the land in accordance with section 207 of the Act. The planning authority must follow the process prescribed under section 207 of the Act.

The process under section 207 of the Act is a reserved function of the elected members of the relevant planning authority and a process in which the Minister for Justice has no function. The decision to create a compulsory right of way by a planning authority may be appealed to An Bord Pleanála in accordance with section 207(5) of the Act within four weeks of being notified of an order under section 207(4) of the Act. It is then a matter for An Bord Pleanála to consider any appeal.

In addition, the Act places responsibility for the maintenance of public rights of way directly with local authorities, by requiring them to preserve existing public rights of way through mapping and listing them as part of their development plans.

Section 10(2)(o) of the Act requires that all development plans include objectives for:

... the preservation of public rights of way which give access to seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other places of natural beauty or recreational utility, which public rights of way shall be identified both by marking them on at least one of the maps forming part of the development plan and by indicating their location on a list appended to the development plan, ...

The "permissive access mechanism" described in Circular Letter PL 5/2015 can complement the statutory development plan objective and can deliver an integrated approach to combining agreed ways and trails with public rights of way statutorily defined in the plan. The overall combined approach, providing an inventory of permissive access routes in addition to rights of way, represents a best practice approach.

I have been further informed that there are no substantive changes to provisions in the draft Planning and Development Bill 2023 pertaining to public rights of way compared to the provisions in the current Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, which I referred to. As the Deputy knows, that other Bill is currently on Committee Stage.

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