Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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It is great that the Minister of State is present, because he is a man who understands the issues of the west of Ireland. I wish to discuss the proposed greenway from Dublin to Galway. There is no issue with the Dublin to Athlone portion, but there is a problem with the stretch from Athlone to Galway. There is a rumour - which appears to have some foundation - that has angered landowners, many of whom are farmers. The rumour is that lands could be acquired by compulsory purchase order, CPO, if necessary. My proposal is that the only way to move on this project is by agreement with the landowners. Perhaps the Minister would outline the anticipated procedure, including the appeals process, for acquiring the lands.

The backdrop to this is that approximately a month ago 12 local landowners in Maree, Oranmore, where I live, and in the general area of Clarinbridge contacted me to say they had received a letter from the NRA stating that a proposed route for the greenway goes through their lands. I was a little dismayed that I, as a local public representative, did not receive a letter on the same matter. There was a lack of information in respect of informing local public representatives. However, we have moved on from that.

I attended a meeting in the Loughrea Hotel & Spa last week. Approximately 250 landowners were present and probably 99% of them were farmers, but to a man and a woman there was 100% disagreement with the acquisition of lands by CPO. The general view was that this greenway is a great idea in principle, but if it is to work in practice, lands must be acquired by agreement with landowners. Second, where possible, public lands should be used. I have met with representatives of both the NRA and local farmers. I am working in the Maree, Oranmore, Clarinbridge and Roscam area to reach agreement on this project and to move it on by helping to work out a route that is agreeable to everybody. The 250 landowners are all opposed to it unless it is done by agreement. That is a considerable number. The project will never get off the ground unless there is goodwill. One can understand the use of CPOs for critical infrastructure such as the M6, and even that was difficult. This, however, is what I would classify as desirable infrastructure. We will not die if we do not get a greenway. We are aware that it would bring tourism benefits and that tourism spreads money across the economy, but the only way to proceed is by agreement with the landowners. It is great in principle, but it must work in practice.

Farmers and people in rural areas are annoyed because they feel they have been walked on. As they said, the rural schools have been hit and there has been a flat domestic economy, so they wonder why this is now being imposed on them. Let us not scupper what is potentially a great project by angering farmers. There are practical issues involved. I do not know if the Minister will be able to address them in his response, but he is a sensible man and he would understand them. What about insurance and liability? The first thing the NRA mentioned to the Galway farmers, which was stupid beyond measure, was that it had surveyed German tourists and found that they wanted this greenway. It could have said it had surveyed European tourists and found that they were interested in cycling and that a greenway would be a way of attracting tourists. I am aware of the popularity of the greenway from Achill to Westport. That is wonderful, because it utilised a disused rail line.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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No.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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It used an existing route, but the Minister can refer to that.

The point is that we must ensure issues such as insurance and liability are covered and there is nothing in that regard that could affect people's private property. What about tourists who stray off the route and go onto people's private property? Where does liability lie in that case? What about farms where there are four movements of cattle per day, such as dairy farms?

What about dividing paddocks and splitting flocks and herds? What about the labour costs and access to water? In my area, the route is proposed to run alongside the Ballinamana River but that river is used to water cattle at the moment. The Minister of State and I both know the price of water and the controversy surrounding it at present. A lot of issues must be worked through here. In principle, I am in agreement with the proposal but I am on the side of the landowner here because I want the lands for the greenway from Dublin to Galway, and particularly from Athlone to Galway, to be acquired by agreement rather than by compulsory purchase order, CPO.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Healy Eames for raising this matter. I am taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe.

The proposed Dublin to Galway national greenway is an ambitious plan to develop a 280 km dedicated cycle route that will meander through the towns and villages of Ireland's heartland while offering a unique connection between these two coastal cities. Planning for the proposed Dublin to Galway cycle route is currently being carried out by the National Roads Authority, NRA and the National Transport Authority, NTA, with planning approval now in place for the entirety of the route between Maynooth and Athlone. The NTA is responsible for the provision of cycling infrastructure in the greater Dublin area and is therefore proceeding with the planning of the Dublin city centre to Maynooth section of the proposed route. The Royal Canal is the intended route for this section of the cycle way. A section of the route from Ashtown to Castleknock was opened earlier this year with funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the NTA.

The NRA is currently undertaking detailed route alignment and design work for the Maynooth to Galway section of the route. The Royal Canal tow path is the selected route for the section of the facility between Maynooth and Mullingar. The section from the Meath-Westmealh county boundary to Mullingar is complete and a further section along a disused rail line from Mullingar to Athlone received €4 million funding under the Government's stimulus package in May this year. The preferred route corridor has been selected from Athlone to Galway. It is anticipated that this section of the route will pass through Shannonbridge, Loughrea, Craughwell, Clarinbridge and Oranmore and will run along the coast into Galway. It is proposed to use State-owned lands where feasible; for example, lands owned by Bord na Mona and Coillte. In terms of the design of the route, the first stage of public consultation has been completed. While the Minister understands that there has been a negative response from certain landowners along pockets of the route corridor between Galway and Ballinasloe, there is no doubt that Galway County Council will make every effort to evaluate the feedback and refine the route corridor to ensure that all possible alternatives are considered.

On the general issue of access to land for cycle ways, it is long recognised that using publicly-owned land is advantageous from the perspective of reducing overall capital costs. The proposed Dublin to Galway greenway is already maximising this option with the development of the route along the Royal Canal from Dublin to Mullingar and then along a disused railway line between Mullingar to Athlone. The route west from Athlone, however, does not present this level of opportunity for the most part. As a result, it was necessary to make a decision to use permissive access or CPO to finalise the design of the greenway. There are valid arguments for both these options and the Minister certainly recognises the value of negotiated permissive access from the perspective of cost and community ownership. However, for projects of scale like the Galway to Dublin greenway, the process of obtaining permissive access would be administratively cumbersome and resource demanding. More significantly, it would offer no security of investment from the perspective of the State. In such a situation, any landowner could withdraw access, as is his or her right, to the greenway at any time, post-construction. This would be a very precarious situation from the State's perspective and would offer little security in terms of public monies. Therefore, the Minister thinks it was a prudent decision, in order to maximise the potential of these large scale greenways, to develop such infrastructure using CPO. While the Minister fully appreciates the anxieties that go hand-in-hand with this approach he does not think the challenges are insurmountable.

Regarding the Senator's point about an appeals process, the usual CPO mechanisms will apply whereby arbitration is used to finalise pricing. The Minister further understands that the NRA will be aiming, as much as possible, to route the greenway through the lands of landowners who are willing to co-operate with the scheme. Ultimately, it will be a matter for all developers of cycling infrastructure to consider access on a case-by-case basis and to take a multi-criteria approach in the route selection process of any planned project in order to maximise the potential use of the amenity. In most cases of smaller greenways and where there are few landowners, the Minister would certainly recommend that all other options be exhausted before land purchase is considered. However, in the context of developing major cycling infrastructure projects that traverse long sections of privately-owned land, the Minister does not think it would be realistic to rely on permissive access agreements given that such agreement can be withdrawn at any time without any recourse to the State. The Minister supports the use of CPO where it is needed but if an alternative approach exists that would give greater security to the State, then he is open to hearing all views.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply although I must say it is worrying because there are several major faux pastherein. The Minister of State said that the "preferred route" is mapped out but Victor Cooney, on behalf of the NRA, has said that it is just a "proposed route" and that the authority is open to other options.
The Minister of State made one point which gives me a little hope. He said that it is in the State's interests to use public lands where possible and I agree with that. In that context, I would urge the use of the old N6 road from Athlone to Galway, utilising our beautiful coastline. If we want tourists to see beauty, we should bring them around by the coast, along the sea front by Maree and Clarinbridge and not have them cutting across farmers' lands. I mean no disrespect when I say that the reply from the Department suggests that the Minister does not understand rural Ireland and the issues of concern there. I am probably correct in saying that because we know the Minister is not from rural Ireland. However, the Minister of State is from rural Ireland and I ask him to convey to the Minister the importance of not implementing CPOs in this case. We will have another war on our hands if he does so. We do not need another war to add to the wars over water and everything else. Let us provide access to rural Ireland in a way that ensures locals will welcome tourists.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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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.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for that reply. I appreciate that my concerns and those of the farmers have been put on the record of the House.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator and the Minister of State. Before we finish I would like to welcome a former Member of Dáil Éireann, Mr. Michael Lynch, from County Meath to the Public Gallery.