Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Oct 1998

Vol. 495 No. 1

Written Answers. - Establishment of Right-of-Way.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

196 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he has received representations from a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7 in relation to a document issued by an official of the Land Commission dated 27 August 1977 in response to inquiries made by a Member of the Oireachtas; if he has satisfied himself that the situation set out in that document was in fact at variance with the true position obtaining when the document was uttered; his views on whether the utterance of that document caused a great deal of upset and expense to the parties affected by it, including the costs of civil proceedings which succeeded in clarifying the issue that the utterance of the document had occluded; and, in view of this and the gravity on the initial action by the Land Commission official, the further action, if any, he proposes to take on the matter. [19453/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

I have received representations from the person named and a response has issued.

The position is that the matters raised in this question were the subject of a Circuit Court hearing in May 1996. Prior to the court hearing the relevant Land Commission files were made available for inspection by the person named and his legal advisers.

The court has now decided the legal matter involved, which was whether or not a right-of-way existed over a particular plot of land. The court found that a right-of-way had been established by user pursuant to the Prescription Acts. The legal branch of the Land Commission had in fact attempted to clarify this by letter in March 1995, well in advance of the court case.