Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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210. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason disputed rights-of-way were allowed to be included in Draft County Development Plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22804/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Section 14 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides for a process for the inclusion by planning authorities of public rights of way in development plans. The process provides for the referral to the Circuit Court, by the landowner affected, of a proposal to include a right of way and where the court is satisfied that no right of way exists, the planning authority may not include it in its development plan. Section 14(7) provides that “the inclusion of a public right of way in a development plan shall be evidence of the existence of such a right unless the contrary is shown”.

The question of whether a public right of way exists is therefore ultimately a matter for the courts to determine.