Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 June 2015
7. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps he is taking to resolve the concerns of owners of land between Athlone in County Westmeath and Aughrim in County Galway relating to the routing of the new Dublin-Galway cycleway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23245/15]
View answerAt the outset, I note that I support the principle of a coast-to-coast greenway. However, the Minister and his officials have gone about this the wrong way. They have taken the wrong approach and the wrong attitude and, as a result, stopped any progress on this project. I want to know why the NRA looked to lands in public ownership between Dublin and the River Shannon, but adopted a completely different attitude once they crossed it in regard to both the assessment criteria and the lands to be used for the route.
I assure the Deputy that I am fully aware of the concerns of landowners along the proposed route of the Dublin to Galway greenway. In an effort to investigate how these concerns can be allayed and a mutually agreeable solution reached, my ministerial colleague, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and I met with Oireachtas members from east Galway, landowners and their representatives along with representatives of Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority. At this meeting it was agreed that members of the project team in Galway County Council should begin a process of engagement with the affected landowners. The object of the exercise is to seek a better understanding of their concerns and to establish whether it is possible to identify a broadly acceptable route for the greenway. This consultation is now under way. Given the number of landowners involved, the process is expected to take up to three months.
The delivery of this project is a priority for my Department in the delivery of a national cycle network for Ireland. The Dublin to Galway greenway corridor was identified as the ideal corridor to progress first for a number of reasons, the main one being that the extensive route when completed would make sense in its own right and also form part of the Eurovelo cycle route network, which provides ready-made branding for the project that will assist in attracting overseas visitors. That aside, it is and always has been the wish of my Department to deliver these projects in co-operation and agreement with local communities to ensure the long term success of initiatives which are delivered with substantial Exchequer investment.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. How does he intend to get the cyclists from Athlone to Ballinasloe if he is not prepared to engage with either the Oireachtas Members or the landowners between Athlone and Ballinasloe? He might clarify, for the record, that some Oireachtas Members in County Galway have been invited to meetings. As he knows, at least two Oireachtas Members through whose parishes the greenway is going have been excluded to date from these discussions. Why has the Minister of State not looked at using the existing public lands between Dublin and Galway - the Bord na Móna lands, the Coillte lands, the National Parks and Wildlife Services lands, and the existing public rights of way that are currently disused - and start from that basis to develop the project? Specifically regarding the route between Athlone and Ballinasloe, it is my understanding that Bord na Móna is vetoing the use of its lands for this greenway on the basis that it is in active production. Surely the same applies to farmland.
As far as I am aware, the elected representatives were invited and a number of them were there. The farmers were also invited and brought along their representatives. Where possible, the State is going to use public lands. We are going to use Coillte land and Bord na Móna land. The difficulty is particularly at the Galway end of it. Some 809 farmers are involved. Six officials from Galway County Council will call to every one of these farms and see if we can get agreement from the majority. I was glad to hear Deputy Naughten saying he is supportive of the greenways. I was very much involved in negotiations with farmers in my own county. The Deputy is, of course, right that we have to talk to farmers. We have to bring the farmers on board and accommodate them where possible. We have the process in place. It will take three months. Six officials from the county council will meet every landowner in the area to see what agreement we have before progressing this any further.
Not all of the Oireachtas Members were invited. I am sure that if the Chair were free to speak, he could clarify that for himself. One cannot get to County Galway without engaging with landowners in County Roscommon first, or do the officials in the Department need a lesson in geography? It is possible, by using Bord na Móna lands and existing disused rights of way and by having a segregated route between Ballinasloe and Aughrim on the old N6, to bring the greenway as far as there without any disruption of farmland. Yet that has not been given the consideration it merits. What is the situation regarding Bord na Móna? Has it vetoed access to its lands on the basis of active production? If the rule applies for Bord na Móna, it should also apply to farmland.
Fáilte Ireland has assessed this line and has decided that the proposed line is the most scenic and most beautiful one to bring people into. I have made clear to the Deputy that any available State land, where suitable, will be looked at.
Where suitable.
We are going to look at all options. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I have a very serious problem. We have people from all over the country, every day, looking for money for greenways, in my own county and every other county. Everybody is looking for them now. We want to implement this but we want to implement it with the goodwill of the farmers and the landowners in the area and we will have to do that-----
And exclude their own public representatives
We are speaking to everybody.
They are not.
We will speak to everybody. Deputy Naughten cannot say on one hand that he is in favour of it and on the other hand putting every obstacle in its way. We are going to sit down with the farmers and we do need their co-operation. I speak as someone who knows about greenways and knows how to deal with farmers, because we did it in the west and without the farmers it would not happen.
And their representatives. It would not have happened without them.
It would not happen without their goodwill, their co-operation and we are going to sit down with those farmers, see if we can get their co-operation, and then we will adjudicate.
