Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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553. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when she intends to bring forward new proposals in the area of right-of-way laws. [48441/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Public rights of way do not fall within my remit as Minister for Justice. In the main, they fall under the remit of local authorities. Under the Roads Act 1993, it is the responsibility of local authorities to protect the public's right to access public rights of way in each local authority area.

As regards the private rights of way that are known as prescriptive rights of way - the Deputy may be aware that I have already brought forward the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2021, which was enacted and came into operation on 30 November 2021. Prescriptive rights of way are a different type of legal right from public rights of way, as they serve the property of a private owner, rather than belonging to members of the public generally.

The effect of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2021 was to protect important prescriptive rights of way, including some rights for an owner to access their home or farm, that had been enjoyed for many years without dispute, but had not been formally registered.

Following the Act, a person who claims to be entitled to a prescriptive right of way can still apply to register it with the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI), but is not obliged to do so. The Act removed a statutory cut-off date for such applications to be made by 1 December 2021, and ensured that periods of long use that were acquired before or during the years 2009-2021 can still be counted in a claim made after that date.

In addition, a time-bound review is under preparation, to examine the overall law relating to prescriptive rights of way, and to identify whether any further changes are desirable, following the 2021 Act, to ensure that the law in this area is placed on a sustainable long-term footing.