Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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In west Cork, we are lucky to have some of the most spectacular marked trails in Ireland, including the Sheep’s Head way and the Beara way. We also have wonderful short routes such as the Fastnet trails, Castlefreke trails and Kilbrittain trails. Research carried out for West Cork Development Partnership in 2012 demonstrated that walking tourism generated €14 million for the local economy and supported an estimated 353 full-time equivalent jobs. It is exactly the type of sustainable tourism project we need in rural areas.

Rural recreation officers, who are employed by local development companies, are crucial. They are responsible for the roll-out of the national walks scheme. They administer the scheme, work with landowners and communities, complete maintenance plans, develop new routes and so much more. Unfortunately, there seems to be no correlation between the allocation of staff and the workload. The West Cork Development Partnership has the largest number of plans and payments to landowners by a considerable margin. The rural recreational officer in west Cork is responsible for 695 work plans whereas the national average is 190, and for 573 payments while the average is 138. This means the officer is responsible for three times the average for work plans and four times the payments average. The officer administers more than €800,000 in payments to landowners and co-ordinate in excess of 600 km of trails. The dedicated individual in the role had to apply for job sharing last year having been overwhelmed by the workload. While this has provided personal relief, it does not address the clear need for additional officers. Not only is this too much work for one full-time role, it is reflects poor management from the Department. It is fundamentally unfair to have people in part-time jobs working full-time roles. One person cannot effectively do all that is required. There needs to be a set ratio between the scale of the schemes in an area and the number of officers employed to get the most for the public investment. It is essential that this is addressed immediately before the people concerned understandably leave their roles. Will the Minister of State assure the people of west Cork they will be getting necessary additional rural recreational officers as soon as possible?

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Sheep's Head way and Beara way are two of the most iconic, stunning and popular walkways in Europe. Their contribution to the local economies of Sheep's Head, Beara Peninsula, Bantry and the entirety of west Cork is immense. The two trails have a combined length of 400 km and involve more than 600 participants. They are an enormous success. However, those 400 km of trails and the 600 participants are administered by one full-time equivalent rural recreation officer. That is unsustainable. The workload involved in administering that number of trails and participants is beyond belief. That is why we are appealing to the Minister of State to give serious consideration to increasing the number of rural recreation officers to administer the west Cork walkways.

I will give him a small example of the equivalent position in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. There are 25 km of walks in that area, with only 24 participants, and there is one full-time rural recreation officer to administer the scheme. That is compared to west Cork where 400 km of trails with 600 participants are administered by one officer. We are appealing to the Minister of State to seriously consider additional rural recreation officers for these fantastic schemes.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter which is important to their locality. The walks scheme, which is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development, contracts landowners to undertake maintenance work on national waymarked ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landowners receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. It makes an important contribution to maintaining some of our most valued walking trails and we want to ensure it continues to be resourced properly in the coming years. Both Deputies outlined the value of both ways to their community and others.

The programme for Government and Our Rural Future includes a commitment to double the number of walks covered by the scheme in recognition of the value of outdoor recreation amenities, not just for individual and community well-being, but also for the tourism impact these trails have on a local economy. The Government is committed to providing investment to further develop this sector in the coming years.

The process of expansion has commenced and the scheme is currently operating on 45 trails supported by approximately 2,040 landowners and is being managed by 16 local development companies around the country. Total costs in respect of the scheme in 2020 were in the region of €2.8 million.

At present, the Department funds rural recreation officers in 13 of these 16 local development companies. The rural recreation officers manage the scheme at a local level. They work with landholders to ensure that the designated walks are maintained at an approved standard, with repairs and improvements made as appropriate. They also make a significant contribution to the development of the outdoor recreation sector locally.

West Cork Development Partnership has two significant trails funded under the walks scheme. Those are the Beara way and the Sheep's Head way, to which the Deputies alluded. There are almost 580 landholders funded under these two walks, receiving funding of approximately €650,000. I am aware that an issue has arisen in West Cork Development Partnership and my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, has asked her officials to formally meet with the company. I understand her officials are in the process of confirming a date for the meeting with the company.

Separate to this, the Department has commissioned an external review of the walks scheme to examine the delivery and strategic development of the scheme. Some of the difficulties the Deputies are experiencing are in their locality have been articulated. The Department is also assessing the role and resourcing of the rural recreation officer posts throughout the country. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will continue to work with all of the stakeholders, including West Cork Development Partnership, to ensure that the scheme can continue to function effectively. I am assured the meeting to which I referred will take place imminently.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State and welcome the fact that the Minister has agreed to meet with the group in west Cork. We had requested such a meeting. The Minister of State outlined the scale of investment and that is the reason we need more rural recreational officers. That is the way to get the full benefit of the scheme, not to mention the obligations to the overstretched staff there.

As well as the existing duties, the west Cork rural recreational officer role is also responsible for a significant portion of the planned Beara to Breifne way, which will be Ireland's longest waymarked trail and about which we are all very excited. On top of that, the officer is assisting with new routes in Dunmanway and Ballingeary. That officer position currently has the largest workload in the country by far. It is only increasing, and rapidly. There is a clear and immediate case for the establishment and recruitment of additional rural recreational officers as soon as possible.

In his response, I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on the review of the scheme. Local development companies have outlined the need for more resources but are apparently waiting for a review to be made available to them. What is the status of that review? It is not required, of course, to know we need more staff in these roles. I wish to impress on the Minister of State the need for additional rural recreational officers in Cork.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is welcome that the Minister will meet representatives of the West Cork Development Partnership. I am sure she will hear first-hand the challenges they are facing in west Cork but also the considerable potential that exists. That is what this is about. At the moment, the single full-time rural recreational officer is struggling to deal with the enormous workload of running the two schemes about which we have talked. We should not just look to maintain what we have but expand it. We can expand walks such as those from Bantry to Drimoleague, around Dunmanway and walks around the entirety of west Cork. There is considerable potential in walking tourism in Ireland, particularly in west Cork where we have scenic peninsulas. I implore the Minister of State to listen to the people of west Cork, Deputy Cairns and me. I call on him to answer our calls for extra rural recreational officers in this area because they are vital.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I have heard the views of both Deputies. I will raise the matter with the Minister on foot of this debate. I understand from both Deputies the importance of the amenities in question and what they provide. I acknowledge the scale of trails and the number of landowners on the scheme in west Cork compared to other areas, as has been mentioned. As I mentioned earlier, an external review of the walks scheme is nearing completion and assessing the role and resourcing of rural recreation officer posts is part of that review and is key in terms of the terms of reference to establish it.

I understand the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will publish the review once it has been fully considered by her Department. The recommendations contained in the review will inform the decisions on the further strategic expansion of the scheme, including the resourcing of local development companies such as the West Cork Development Partnership. Direct engagement with the company in west Cork by officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development, together with recommendations emerging from the external review of the walks scheme, should help identify the best approach for the future of the scheme in west Cork and elsewhere.