Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and thank him for coming to the House to take this matter. I did not think in the last Dáil that I would be in the Seanad speaking to him about a model railway but I will explain why it is very important.

Fortunately, Malahide has seen substantial investment in Malahide Demesne and Malahide Castle over the past number of years. In January 2009, a €10 million investment in Malahide Castle was announced to develop the craft courtyard, open up the castle and to do what the Minister of State and his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, have been speaking about in regard to improving our tourism product and accessibility. Malahide Castle and Demesne is a fantastic facility. I met the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, on 3 February when he was turning the sod which did not grate with me, even though we announced the investment back in January 2009. I was glad to see him there as it will create 80 jobs with the anchor tenant being Avoca Handweavers.

Leaving that aside, I will outline for the Minister of State the geography of the area. He will visit Malahide Cricket Club, of which I am a member, the week after next. It was glad to secure €500,000 to create an international one day ground in Malahide. Right opposite where the Minister of State will visit the week after next is the Casino House which is a very important architectural building at the entrance to Malahide. It is a thatched building which, unfortunately, has fallen into some disrepair. It is managed by NAMA.

A very generous individual, the late Micheál Gaffney, bequeathed €1.5 million in a trust to secure the Casino House on the basis that the Fry model railway, the largest model railway in Ireland, is returned to its rightful place in Malahide. That would do two things. First, it would return the model railway to what was its home for years and, second and most important, it would protect a very important building in Malahide which is currently vacant, and I think the Minister of State would agree with me on that given his portfolio. We saw what happened in Belcamp College. It was stripped bare thus destroying a €250,000 building. We have agreed contracts with NAMA of €600,000 and have ample money - €1.5 million - to purchase the building and to restore the 1.9 acres around it as well as the walled gardens to their former glory. We have full planning permission to add on a coffee shop which I reckon would create six to eight jobs adjacent to Malahide train station.

What is crazy about all of this? One would think that if one was offered €1.5 million, we could do all of this without requiring any money from the Minister of State's Department and that everything would be great. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Bus Éireann plans to spend €1 million doing up the Eblana Theatre in Busáras and to locate the largest model railway in the country in a bus station in the middle of Dublin. The irony of that is not lost in that Bus Éireann is there to run buses and certainly not to run model railways.

I served with the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, in Fingal County Council and we know each other very well. I advised him of this on 3 February. I do not want to see this opportunity being lost. It would be a terrible waste of taxpayers' money for Bus Éireann to spend any money locating this exhibition in Busáras. If that happens, we will lose the €1.5 million bequeathed, we will not be able to purchase the Casino House and we will not be able to bring the Fry model railway back to Malahide and create six or eight jobs. There is unbelievable community support for this in Malahide and in the surrounding areas. There is unbelievable community support for this, both in Malahide and the surrounding areas, and within Fingal County Council. Two of colleagues from the council, Councillors Darragh Butler and Eoghan O'Brien, have raised this matter in the council which is fully supportive. We want this to happen and I hope the Minister of State can help us achieve it. If he has a spare two minutes when he is visiting Malahide cricket club the week after next I will bring him across the road and show him how fantastic this facility could be.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to respond to Senator O'Brien on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who is on his way to Brussels to attend a meeting of EU transport Ministers. He apologises for his absence.

I understand that in 2009, Fingal County Council applied to Fáilte Ireland for tourism capital investment support to renovate Malahide Castle. The project includes works to provide improved visitor services along with interpretation and presentation improvements to the gardens. Grant aid of €3.5 million from Fáilte Ireland has been approved for the project which is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. Overall, this is a €10 million investment for the purpose of enhancing the existing tourism facilities in Malahide Castle and gardens. It is expected the renewed castle and gardens will cater for 250,000 visitors per year. This is good news for Malahide and for Dublin.

Part of the renovation at Malahide Castle necessitated the demolition of buildings within the grounds including the building that housed the Fry Model Railway. The deed of covenant attached originally to the sale of the model railway bestowed it to Dublin Tourism. When notice was received of the renovations Dublin Tourism approached the four Dublin local authorities and the Office of Public Works to try to find a suitable home for the Fry Model Railway. These efforts were unsuccessful. Subsequently, Dublin Tourism received unsolicited submissions from a number of interested parties to house the railway.

The board of Dublin Tourism considered it vital that a suitable home be identified for the collection as soon as possible and approved a process which set the following criteria: the collection and the rolling stock must be kept together; it should be kept in the Dublin region as a visitor attraction; it must be on exhibit to the public during certain opening hours; the deed of covenant must be adhered to; and it would be preferable if it could be kept in public ownership.

Given these criteria Bus Éireann and the Busáras building was the only suitable party identified as a potential home for the model railway. Some months later a group from Malahide approached Dublin Tourism with information concerning a related private bequest and the potential to house the railway in another building in Malahide. From the outset this group was informed that Dublin Tourism had already entered into negotiations with another party and that the process was well advanced. On the 16 January 2012, Dublin Tourism amalgamated with Fáilte Ireland. Fáilte Ireland is now in advanced negotiations regarding the best possible future use and promotion of the Fry Model Railway and expects the matter to be concluded over the coming weeks. Any final agreement reached will be in keeping with the terms of the original covenant which bestowed it to the State.

I will bring to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and Fáilte Ireland the points made by Senator O'Brien so that they can be taken into account by Fáilte Ireland in reaching a final agreement which I know will be in the best interests of Irish tourism and the use of this important and unique asset.

Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)
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For the clarification of the Minister of State, his reply states that Dublin Tourism received unsolicited submissions from a number of interested parties to house the railway. Last week the organisation stated it had had a public competition to this end which was not correct. I contradicted it at the time and am glad to see Dublin Tourism has changed the statement. Its efforts to find a suitable home were intended simply to store the railway not to provide a permanent home. The answer that was provided to the Minister of State is therefore not correct.

Can I take it from the answer, which states that any final agreement reached will be in keeping with the terms of the original covenant of bestowal to the State, that no final decision has been taken? When he sees the Malahide Casino I am sure the Minister of State will agree that within his portfolio there is an opportunity to secure a very important building that would locate this fantastic collection adjacent to a train station. Any person in his or right mind would not believe Busáras could be used as a tourism hub for such a unique collection. All the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, need to do between them is knock a few heads together and ensure this. No agreement has been entered into as per this answer. Let us not waste €1 million. I am sure we can find some very good projects in Kerry to spend it on, or anywhere else around the country.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Mayo.

Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry. I am getting mixed up. Mayo in particular - or anywhere else. This is too important. We only have until the end of April. This would be a great news story. I thank the Minister of State for attending and giving his time. I would appreciate it if he would bring the points I raised back to the Minister, Deputy Varadkar.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I certainly will. I will be in Malahide with Deputy Alan Farrell and Senator O'Brien and will have no problem in taking a look around. Deputy Farrell also raised this issue with me. I will meet the Senator on site and will bring his points to the attention of the Minister.