This summer has been one of huge discontent and serious upset for farmers and landowners on the proposed greenway walk from Cork to Kinsale. I begin by saying that a walkway anywhere in our country has to be welcome, but with peaceful negotiations as was done in the world-renowned Sheep's Head and Beara Way. That is the model to do this, not the TII model with its sword over the head called CPO.

CPO has its used for infrastructural projects as a last resort, but to use CPO to grab land from farmers and landowners for recreational purposes is one step too far. This peaceful campaign in west Cork has opened up similar nightmares for landowners throughout the country who had or will have their lands taken from them from by TII with CPO for walkways in counties Mayo and Kerry and other parts of the country. Government policy is to mainly use State-owned land for greenway walks, but in the Cork to Kinsale case, 90% is being put on privately-owned farms and land, destroying in particular many farms, splitting them in two and making them unworkable. Will the Taoiseach stand with these landowners and force TII to drop CPO for any greenway negotiations going forward?

I am not familiar with the particular background negotiations with TII. I have walked the Seven Heads peninsula walk, which was developed by the Foróige youth organisation, working with the farmers and those who owned the land in that area and with the local community. There was no talk of anybody. There was no TII; there was nothing. They just did it as a local community endeavour, and it has been one of the most enjoyable recreational walks that people come from all over the country to participate in. That is the kind of spirit that should inform any developments. Sometime I say to TII that it needs to ease up on the spec too. People want to retain the biodiversity. They want to retain the natural pathways. We do not need super spec in my view, or intrusions on the landscape either. I will certainly have a look at it and see what is happening there. Once you get into the CPO, you are in trouble in terms of any greenway.