The Government may buy or lease land from farmers to resolve the conflict between hillwalkers and landowners.
However, according to the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, his department will not pay farmers for allowing walkers on mountains or open moorland on so-called "permissive" ways.
The Minister, who was speaking at the launch of his department's National Development Plan package, said permissive ways were on open mountains.
"You often find a situation where you have a local hill and walkers have to go across green land to get access to that hill and that is an unsatisfactory situation from the farmer's point of view," he said.
"I can see a situation where you would lease or buy access routes to hills so you would not have to go across enclosed space."
He said the legal situation between the hills and lowlands had not changed but the practical circumstances were totally different in the two areas," he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said where land had to be fenced or maintained, there would have to be finance available.The big debate is about paying farmers for walkers using permissive ways.He said that "the answer to that one is no".
He added that the decline in walking tourism had been reversed and the walkers were coming back .