Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Pender and his colleagues and thank them for the presentation. I will first refer to a few issues in a strategic manner, rather than discussing specific projects. We need to explore the potential of tourism and how best to arrive at an integrated approach to developing it. It would be worthwhile commissioning an independent study on developing rural recreation and marine leisure, two areas where there is not a heap of difference. If, for example, one is descending a cliff, is one engaged in marine leisure or rural recreation? If one falls into the sea, one is definitely engaged in a marine leisure activity. From the perspective of Fáilte Ireland, is angling on Lough Corrib much different in tourism terms from sea angling? Similarly, does it make a difference to Fáilte Ireland if one is engaged in an activity on an island as opposed to in the sea off the island? In my view, rural recreation and marine leisure are two sides of the same coin.

It would be interesting to list all the possible activities and then try to calculate how many additional jobs we could create sustainably if we were to take a strategic decision to realise 80% of this potential. For example, I believe the number of rural walkers increased by approximately 800,000 in the period from 2000 to 2009 and I presume the figure has increased further in the meantime. I believe the target at the time was to have 1 million visitors who considered walking an important part of their holiday. It could be clearly demonstrated that tourism, which is spread throughout the country, has the potential to create as many new jobs as foreign direct investment.

We also need a framework plan on how to realise the potential of tourism. This should include an investment plan identifying the private and public sources of potential investment in the sector. We must be careful to allow initiative and enable people to work within a framework because so much of tourism is based on personality, rather than being in the best place. While some areas may not be optimal in terms of geographical location, provided the right person does the job properly, he or she may make a success of it. On the other hand, persons operating in perfect conditions may not succeed. For this reason we need a co-ordinated framework that will provide integrated products and encourage people to develop.

I remember making a list of outdoor activities to which Ireland lends itself. If we were to compile such a list, we would fill up more sheets of paper than the presentation before us. To focus first on the sea, we have especially clear waters where one can engage in snorkelling, diving, swimming and surfing. With wet suits, some of these activities are no longer as unattractive as they used to be; surfing, for example, is a major growth industry. In my role in a previous Government, I used to attend the boat show every year to meet my counterpart from Northern Ireland as part of our responsibility for Waterways Ireland. While I am not interested in yachts, my jaw used to drop at the show which featured everything from small dinghies, kayaks and canoes to the largest ocean-going yacht. I and my Northern colleague used to have our photograph taken in front of the latter in order that we could tell our respective Ministers that we wanted to buy it. We were codding and joking.

In Galway, we have Lough Atalia, from which one must sail under a bridge at Claregalway to access the open sea, Galway Bay and the open Atlantic. We have waters that suit every type of vessel, from ocean-going yachts to smaller vessels that one would not take far from shore. We also have cliff climbing, wake boarding, sea angling and so forth. One could list the various sea activities all afternoon, before starting on activities which take place both at sea and on land. One then has land-based activities such as archaeology. I do not believe we have a comprehensive plan to develop such activities. For a long time, I tried to have marine leisure and rural recreation dealt with by one body.

Because of a historical difficulty, this only happened shortly after I changed ministry and became Minister for Social Protection. A great deal of time was spent trying to resolve a particular issue, which I do not propose to go into, with the Department of Finance. The proposal was that while this issue straddles many Departments one Department should lead on rural recreation and marine leisure and that we should have a comhairle na mara and comhairle na tuaithe, the remit of both being responsibility for rural recreation and marine leisure. I believe this would result in the creation of 6,000 sustainable jobs.

Issues have been raised about disused and abandoned railway lines, which we should avoid going into detail on. My attitude is that if there is problem in one area one should move on to the next. One will always find someone to do the job. The reason the work was carried out first on the Mayo rather than Galway line was because Mayo County Council responded quicker. I regularly referred in the past to the railway line to Cahirciveen, which is spectacular, and to the railway lines to Barnsmore Pass, Achill, west Clare, including the Rathkeale line on which work was done-----