Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1382. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount available in 2018 for the development of greenways; if funding will be available to purchase land for the development of such greenways; the process by which applications will be made and approved for this funding; the proposed date of approval of projects in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54811/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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An amount of €3.6m has been allocated under my Department’s Tourism Services budget for greenway construction, planning and design for 2018. This amount is fully committed for ongoing projects in Kildare, Meath, Waterford, Galway and Kerry.

I will be in a position to announce a new funding call for greenways following the completion of the Greenway Strategy, which is currently being developed in my Department and which I hope to publish in the first quarter of this year. The funding call to local authorities will be a competitive process and proposals submitted will be assessed based on criteria set out in the funding call. I anticipate that decisions regarding projects to be funded will be taken around the end of 2018. 

Under the recent mid-term review of the Capital Plan I was pleased to secure an additional €30m for greenways bringing the total available investment for the period 2018 to 2021 to almost €56m.

Matters concerning the purchase of land for greenway development are for local authorities. If there is a requirement to purchase land the local authority should include the cost of land purchase as part of any application submitted to my Department under the next funding call.   

My advice to local authorities intending to submit proposals under the next funding call is to advance all statutory, planning and land purchase requirements to the greatest degree possible so as to be well placed to compete. It will be important that consultation with landowners begins at an early stage in the process to find an agreed route that will minimise the impact on landowners business either through the routing of the greenway or through accommodation works.

For completeness of information, I can inform the Deputy that my Department will also allocate €8m to the National Transport Authority (NTA) in 2018 towards the development of urban cycling and walking infrastructure. Whilst the exact amounts to be allocated to individual schemes are currently being finalised between the NTA and the relevant local authorities, there are a number of greenway-type schemes likely to be included under this funding stream such as sections of the Royal Canal in Dublin City, Fingal and Co. Kildare; the Grand Canal in Dublin City; the Dodder Greenway in Dublin City and South Dublin; and the Lee Valley in Cork City.

My Department is also part-funding a number of cross-border greenways in Donegal, Monaghan and Louth as part of the EU INTERREG VA Sustainable Transport Programme; the funding amount from my Department towards this programme is likely to be approximately €100,000 in 2018. A further €150,000 has been allocated to Transport Infrastructure Ireland to progress design work on the pedestrian and cycle bridge in Athlone that forms part of the Galway to Dublin Greenway.