Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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91. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if it is the policy of his Department in developing greenways for cycling and walking to fund the purchase of the land in question in order to secure permanent access to the greenways once built; if permissive access is the preferred approach; if advice has been received from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office as to the acceptability of committing large sums of investment into such projects without long-term security for the use of the greenways; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29989/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​My Department's policy is to ensure that cycling infrastructure projects funded using taxpayers money are available to be used at all times by all that wish to use them. This can be achieved through the use of State owned lands for such facilities but, in some instances, the purchase of land using compulsory purchase as a mechanism to do so, may also be pursued by the local authority leading the project. Given the cost of these projects, permissive access is not usually an appropriate model as it does not protect the state's investment.  Most Greenways constructed to date and for which my Department has provided funding were built on state owned land.

However, I am aware that land ownership issues have arisen in a number of greenways that are currently at planning and/or design stage so it becoming clear that a consistent approach will be required to deal with this in future.  My Department is currently working on developing a Greenways Strategy that will address this issue and many others, including consultation with landowners and possible compensation for land purchase and will be consulting all relevant stakeholders as this is progressed in the coming months.