Greenways Provision Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter, which I am dealing with on behalf of Minister for Transport. On a personal level, I do not disagree with a lot of what the Deputy said. He is absolutely right and I will come back to that in a minute. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for the overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to greenways. The planning, design and construction of individual greenways is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TIl, as the approving authority and the relevant local authority, which in the case of this project is Kerry County Council. The delivery of the south Kerry greenway is a key priority within the greenways programme. It is a significant project that will link Glenbeigh and Cahersiveen, with the 24 km route primarily following the old railway line. Over €9 million has been allocated to fund this project in 2026 alone, while a further €7 million, approximately, was allocated to fund this scheme in 2025. This significant investment underlines the Government's commitment to the project. I hear the Deputy's point about the economic lift the greenway will give the areas he mentioned. I understand that two sections of the greenway route have opened in recent months and that another section will be opened over the summer. This is a positive development and signals Kerry County Council’s commitment to progressing this project to delivery. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the challenges involved in delivering this scheme, which range from complex engineering issues involving topography and remediation works on historical structures to inflationary pressures and, of course, land acquisition. The preferred approach to land acquisition for greenways is to procure required land by voluntary land agreements, VLAs. All reasonable efforts should be made to acquire land on a voluntary basis. It is only as a last resort that a CPO will be pursued by a local authority and it should only ever be a last resort. Even then, where a CPO process commence,s there should be further ongoing engagement throughout the process to try and reach a voluntary land agreement. That may not happen in some cases. I have heard that this is not the situation in some cases, which disappoints me. CPOs are a long-standing statutory mechanism available to local authorities for public infrastructure projects and their use is subject to strict legal processes and oversight. I hear very clearly the Deputy's remarks about the use of CPOs and he is right. It must be by the will of the people. There must be engagement, constructive and meaningful talks and conversations with landowners and others. That is the only way to proceed. I see this in my own constituency and in Cork South West, with the Cork to Kinsale greenway. I fully agree with the Deputy that we must bring people together, not divide and conquer. Kerry County Council has advised that land is being acquired from 138 landowners for the south Kerry greenway. As of early April 2026, compensation has been agreed and paid to 36 landowners. Compensation has been agreed with a further 54 landowners and these claims are at various stage of the conveyancing process. The average time between finalising conveyancing details with a landowner’s solicitor and making payment is five to six months. I have been advised that it is expected that all of these 54 claims will be paid in 2026, barring any unforeseen circumstances or issues. I would like to confirm to the Deputy that funding is available to pay these claims in 2026 on completion of the relevant legal documentation. When completed, 65% of all impacted landowners will have been fully compensated for their land. In 16 cases, no statement of claim has been received from the landowner or the landowner’s agent, which is resulting in delays to the process. There are other cases where agreement of landowners’ agent's fees is also delaying the process. Three cases have been referred to arbitration and are engaging with the formal process to help bring matters toward a fair and timely resolution. I have been assured that Kerry County Council officials are working closely with remaining local landowners and their agents to finalise accommodation works and land acquisition payments. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is critical that there is a working relationship between the local authority and all landowners to ensure that all claims can be settled. I encourage all landowners to engage with the project team if they have not done so. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-28