Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support this legislation and the increase in the total capital investment. I would say that because if I did not, my former colleagues in Fáilte Ireland who are looking at me would probably be on the phone in a few minutes.

I had the pleasure of being part of the union team that negotiated the creation of Fáilte Ireland. I ended up as a manager in the organisation, having previously been with Bord Fáilte. I always joked when the negotiations to create Tourism Ireland were under way that we were the only country in the world that brought together two tourist boards, namely Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and came out with three. C'est la vie. It was all for the best in the end. I acknowledge the great work these public servants do across Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, especially the latter as it an organisation I have a great affection for. When I was there we created the national tourism database and I registered and helped create discoverireland.com and discoverireland.ie with fantastic people. There are too many of them to name and some are still there. As the Minister will appreciate, I come to this with a bit of knowledge and background. I support the Bill and the comments I will make will be based on my broad experience in tourism in general. Then I will raise some specific items I would like her to look into.

Product development used to be under the direction of Paul Keeley. It is an incredibly important area within the organisation. It is the future of our tourism development. There must be a plan for the products and services we are looking at developing. I am delighted the Minister said that she is going to have four regional plans, that there is going to be a ten-year vision and that there are going to be five years of actions. However, there is a bit of a joke between the people who have worked in tourism down through the years that when it comes to product development, the spine of Ireland is often forgotten about. I will give the Minister a phrase she can steal: "hole in the doughnut syndrome". It is a good analogy if you think about it. As a country we have developed our tourism product such that someone arrives in Dublin Airport, goes over to the west coast, comes all the way down, does the Wild Atlantic Way, comes across counties Cork and Kerry and then comes up the east coast again. The spine of Ireland does not get its fair shake. It is incredible that to this day we as a country still push almost everything through Dublin Airport. That is going to continue. I look forward to seeing the Minister's plans. There is public consultation and I have told lots of people about that and promoted it because I take such a keen interest in this area. I hope the plans will help address this situation.

There is great value, products and services in tourism in the spine of Ireland, which is the hole in that doughnut. I always classify three "A"s and an "E", namely, accommodation, attractions, activities and events. The Minister can have that one too. Add in travel and you have the whole lot. If we look at some of the golf course offerings down the spine of Ireland compared with the perimeter, they are incredible value. It is the same with accommodation, food, drink, heritage offerings and everything else. There are some fantastic towns and attractions and an awful lot of ancient history. It needs more promotion. It needs targeted promotion from somebody who has a vision and I hope that someone is the Minister. Many of the products in those areas are underdeveloped and are not linked in the way they are promoted because, in fairness to those who do the promotion overseas, if there is not enough scale, they are not going to do it. We need to offer product ranges and service ranges in the spine of Ireland or the hole in that doughnut, that are of such a scale that Tourism Ireland will promote them overseas. It amazes me, by the way, how many people do not know the difference between the organisations. Tourism Ireland can only market what is put in front of it as the product development comes from Fáilte Ireland. It will take a number of years. We must put together the ranges to do with food, heritage, built heritage and sport. There is a fantastic offering from Fáilte Ireland to promote horse racing and horse breeding in counties Tipperary and Kildare. It is very specific and it is excellent. A considerable number of people come to my county, and indeed to Kildare because I have talked to Senator Wall about this, because of that product. It is very niche but that is what we are strong at, so let us promote it.

The success of the Wild Atlantic Way, which again Paul Keeley was involved with, as well as Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, which was the brainchild of Paddy Matthews, are examples of what can be done. The Wild Atlantic Way is incredibly successful as a marketing tool. It should be something we try to replicate as it is fantastic. Of course, the issue for us politicians from other parts of the country, was it was so good we felt it was almost discriminatory against everywhere else. Then we had Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, which is an excellent programme as well.

The Minister's opening remarks referenced the DEDPs that are going to be launched as a subsection of the regional plans. They must be targeted and specific in how they are done because they will apply to local areas. I will come back to that in a few minutes.

On capital spending, there must be cross-pollination with other Departments. When I was at the Departments of Transport, and Environment, Community and Local Government I put huge effort into the promotion of greenways. There is now such much activity going on with the greenways and cycling that it is a product in itself that can be marketed in a different way. This will be especially so following the commencement of what will be the best greenway in western Europe in south Kerry, which can be built now the go-ahead has finally been given. However, all of these products need to be pulled together and promoted in a different way. This is particularly so in areas where tourism is not the main driver, unlike Kerry and similar parts of the country.

There also needs to be collaborative work with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Minister should look specifically at accommodation provision because we are going have difficulties in the coming years with it, given what is happening in the world. It is going to have an impact on the domestic market in the next tourism season, which is incredible. There is not going to be enough accommodation and people are not going to be able to afford what is there because so much accommodation is going to be taken up for such a long period. We all know that. We need to look from a planning perspective at how we can accommodate, in cases, temporary accommodation. I am thinking of pods, modular buildings and all of this sort of stuff across the country. There is a product range out there that can be put in place quite quickly but the time it will take from a planning perspective means it is not practical.

There are many places around the country where multiple small buildings would probably be more conducive having accommodation fit into the landscape and countryside than large buildings. I know a number of people who have tried this but have not been able to due to planning issues. I think, and would say that the Acting Chair, Deputy Carey, is in agreement with me, that if we could make a small amendment to the planning legislation to provide for this, it would be welcome, particularly in areas where tourism is not as strong or has not received the full necessary development.

I raise with the Minister the strategy which I launched in 2014. I know she is working through the four regions and the co-ordinated local destination and experience development plans, DEDPs - I will get that into my head eventually. I am holding a copy of the strategy, which is about Ireland's hidden secret, Lough Derg. It is one of the best places to visit. It spans three counties and almost the city of Limerick. It is in east Galway, east Clare and north Tipperary. The biggest issue with access to the area was that it was virtually impossible to get through Ballina and Killaloe because of the traffic situation. Thankfully, work has started on the bridge there, which means that will be dealt with in three years. The issue for me is that this is a hidden secret. When I talked about a hole in the doughnut, that was what I was trying to address. This is the hole in the doughnut.

People come to where I live in Garrykennedy, to Portroe, Dromineer and to Ballina. They say that they never knew these places existed. They had no idea. How many people associate Lough Derg with Tipperary? There are places such as Coolbaun, Puckane and Terryglass, which has been tidy town of the year on a number of occasions. Many people never think of these places because Tipperary has not been promoted. Garrykennedy is probably one of the greatest places on Earth. It is my little hideaway. Much excellent work was put into this. Some €2 million was spent. In her speech, the Minister acknowledged the work on changing facilities, toilets, upgrades to marinas and on walkways. It has been fantastic. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was there last year to open a walkway which was built. She could not get over the place. It is so central. This is as much for places such as Portumna, east Clare and Killaloe.

That area is not promoted to the required level. There was a budget of €10 million and €2 million was spent. Joe McGrath is the chief executive officer of Tipperary County Council and was the chair of the working group. He made the money go far on signage and everything else along the way go far. Speaking as somebody who knows many people who work in this industry, including in Fáilte Ireland, they welcome the structures that have been put in place with regard to regionality and substructures, because it gives them a structure to work with. Previously, it was a case of trying to ensure that everything was stretched out and things were not joined up because there were other considerations about how funding could be spent. There are now four regional structures and the substructures.

I would appreciate if the Minister would look at this as an example. There is a comprehensive report on Lough Derg entitled Life at the Lake – A Roadmap for Experience Development and Destination Marketing 2014-2017. I would appreciate if the Minister would look at that as a subset of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, because there is a crossover between Ireland's Hidden Heartlands and the Wild Atlantic Way, which Clare is part of, though in reality, it is more a part of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands. Much can be gained from this, including various activities and food and drink. I ask the Minister to come to Ballina, Killaloe, Portumna, Garrykennedy or Terryglass to experience it. I am sure the Minister knows many of those parts. She can see the value that can be had there. It is so central. It is just off the motorway in the middle of Ireland, but it does not get the promotion that it deserves.

There are many activities in the region. There is a canoe trail, which is the first blueway based on canoes. There is an ecopark based in Portumna. There are multiple walking routes. One passes by my home. There is a trailhead and discovery point based at one of the best known scenes in Ireland, which is the lookout in my own village, Portroe. It has a view of all the islands across the lake. I put all this on the record because I believe, given the structures that the Minister has put in place, that now is an ideal opportunity for her to help it along. I am not expecting miracles but there is a ten-year vision and a five-year plan of action, so I would appreciate if the Minister and her officials would consider that document again over the coming weeks while plans are being put in place. As they are watching, I publicly ask my former colleagues in Fáilte Ireland to do the same, to look at it and to help it along the road, because I am sure they know its value.

I wish the Minister well with this. This is important legislation. It is technical, but the more funding we can put into product development post-Covid to plan for the development of tourism in this country, the better. I ask the Minister to discriminate positively on those areas that are the hole in the doughnut.

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