Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport is a very good Minister who understands rural Ireland. He has family connections in Roscommon through his parents. I would make the point regarding any greenway that there must be public consultation and that the authorities must talk to farmers and bring them on board. That is the preferred way to do it and that is what we hope to do here.

I will discuss this with officials in the Department because I agree that we need the co-operation and support of farmers. I hope that the NRA and the county councils can work things out with the farmers. Where there is an alternative route that does not involve taking someone's land, we will consider it. The Senator made reference to the preferred route and expressed concerns in that regard. However, I would point out that the N5 was part of the preferred route but in the end, that was not the route that was selected. A lot of negotiation took place and another route was found. There are always preferred routes for projects and we negotiate on that basis. If we can get agreement, that is fine but if not, we change the route. I will ask the Minister and departmental officials to make sure, in tandem with Galway County Council, the NRA and the NTA, that they sit down with the farmers who may be affected. We need the farmers to support us. In the context of the western greenway, we got the support of the farmers and I thank them for that. They saw the benefits of the project and got behind it. Indeed, many new businesses have been set up along the greenway route. That project would not have happened without the co-operation of the farmers. I assure the Senator that we will talk to them and try to work everything out. If we cannot get agreement, we may have to look at other routes and so be it.