Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Planning and Development Act 2000 (the Act), places responsibility for the maintenance of public rights of way directly with local authorities, by requiring them to preserve existing public rights of way through mapping and listing them as part of their development plans. Under Section 30 of the Act, I am precluded in my role as Minister with responsibility for planning from commenting on any particular case in which a planning authority is concerned.

Section 10(2)(o) of the 2000 Act requires that all development plans include objectives for “the preservation of public rights of way which give access to seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility, which public rights of way shall be identified both by marking them on at least one of the maps forming part of the development plan and by indicating their location on a list appended to the development plan.”

In addition to the requirement set out in Section 10(2)(o) of the Act, there are a number of mechanisms that the local authority can use to secure the development of improved access to the countryside and amenities besides this statutory process. The "permissive access mechanism" described in Circular Letter PL 5/2015 can complement the statutory development plan objective and can deliver an integrated approach to combining agreed ways and trails with public rights of way statutorily defined in the development plan. This approach has the potential to extend the amenity and recreational offer, and, as such, provides better access and improved connectivity throughout a local area or the wider county area. The overall combined approach, providing an inventory of permissive access routes in addition to rights of way, represents a best practice approach.

Local authorities in their role as Road Authorities have the power to declare public roads under the Roads Act 1993, as amended, and once a public road is declared, a public right of way is created and it is the responsibility of the local authority to maintain the public road and the public right of way. This is a matter which falls under the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Transport.