Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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592. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of an application for funding of €500,000 to develop a cycle route greenway from Abbeyshrule to Ballymahon in County Longford. [41710/15]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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593. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide signage for the blueway trail along the Royal Canal, listing features and potential walking and cycling routes in proximity to the canal, to ensure users are aware of these amenities in the local area. [41712/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 592 and 593 together. All Department funding for the delivery of greenways is fully committed up until 2016.  However, the development of a greenway along the Royal Canal from Abbeyshrule to Ballymahon is among those projects to which my Department will give serious consideration in the event of additional funding becoming available. Any funding award would include provision for the installation of signage and direction markers to highlight the existence of and assist users of the greenway.

Officials from my Department along with colleagues from the National Trails Office and Fáilte Ireland visited the location of this proposed greenway recently and its suitability and I expect to have the results of their assessment of this and a number of other proposals shortly.

I understand that planning permission is already in place for this project and this will certainly be of benefit should funding become available.  Indeed, I would urge other local authorities to follow Longford County Council's lead in progressing projects through the planning phase from their own resources as this will mean that projects are shovel ready and thus easier to allocate funding to.