Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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531. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to outline the progress to date in advancing a greenway utilising sections of the disused Sligo and Leitrim and northern counties railway (SLNCR) route; the status of this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31071/17]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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532. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to outline the position regarding the proposal to develop a greenway between Ballinamore, County Leitrim and Belturbet, County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31072/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 531 and 532 together.

Both Leitrim (with the support of Cavan) and Sligo County Councils submitted applications to my Department under the last tranche of the National Cycle Network (NCN) funding programme 2014-2016 for the construction of a greenway along the sections of the disused Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties (SLNCR) railway within their jurisdiction. Cavan County Council also submitted an application for the Ballinamore to Belturbet greenway along the Cavan to Leitrim Railway. Unfortunately these proposals did not secure funding at that time, due to the significant over-subscription for funding. Leitrim County Council were also unsuccessful in their application for funding under the INTERREG VA ERDF Programme.

The Programme for Partnership Government commits to making additional funding available for greenways into the future and I am pursuing this in the context of the mid-term review of the Capital Plan. When the capital plan review is finalised and there is clarity on the totality of the funding that will be available for greenways in the coming years, my Department will issue further funding calls and local authorities would then be able to submit projects for funding. My Department's advice to all local authorities wishing to progress greenway projects is to advance the planning and design elements to the greatest degree possible so as to be best placed in the event of future funding calls. Clarity on ownership of routes and agreement on access is also very important in this regard.

The Deputy may be aware that I recently launched a public consultation process to inform the development of my Department's new Strategy for the future development of greenways. A public consultation paper is available on my Department's website, . All interested parties are invited to make submissions by 14 July, 2017 and I would welcome your views as part of this process.