The Irish Farmers Association says it has widespread support from hill-walkers, hill-walking organisations and Fáilte Ireland for financial supports for farmers who create walks.
Neilie O'Leary, chair of its hill-farming committee, said yesterday it was clear from recent discussions with walking interests in the Cork area that the decline in rural tourism numbers could be reversed if a package was put in place to boost rural tourism, and particularly hill-walking.
The IFA proposes a countryside walkways management scheme to support the development of walks to enhance the tourism potential of rural regions and to boost their economic development.
This would involve a standard payment of €1,000 plus a payment of €5 a metre of walk. A similar payment system would apply to commonage land with the length of the walk being determined by the number of shares owned in commonage.
It estimated that the scheme would cost €6 million a year and, as the number of walks increased, the overall expenditure would be €15 million a year to 5,000 farmers who would open up 2,000km of walks.
"This scheme would help provide a tourism product, particularly to peripheral areas which have suffered most from declining tourism numbers," said Mr O'Leary, who said the scheme had been presented to Government last July.
He said it was up to the Minister for Tourism, John O'Donoghue, to come forward with a scheme that would improve the marketing of rural areas and help reverse the trend in tourist numbers and visiting hill-walkers to Ireland.