Ms Ethna Murphy:

I will pick up on a number of the points raised by members before making a number of points myself in respect of walking and angling. I may also comment on the potential which lighthouses offer and on the lighthouse stock to which Deputy McNamara referred. I will highlight some examples of extensive buy-in on the part of the private sector. I can inform Deputy Martin Ferris that when good-quality infrastructure is built by the State and its agencies, on many occasions those in the private sector - particularly, small businesses - are very forthcoming in using and sweating that asset very well.

It was stated that walking has become more popular and that there has been a great increase in the number of visitors who come to this country on walking holidays. There were 740,000 such holidaymakers last year. It is interesting to note that the figure for those who come here on walking holidays has grown year on year. This growth has been supported by the investment plan initiated in 2007 or 2008. If ever there was an example of how investment has delivered a return, then this is it. The trick now is to examine the position with regard to this investment, to consider the situation with regard to the existing infrastructure and to identify, in a very strategic manner, the areas where we would like to deploy assets or energy during the coming years. We must also examine the possibility of developing more plans and increase our efforts in respect of interpreting existing walks. We must recount the history of the culture and the communities which are responsible for those walks.

A good example of something that is emerging is in Donegal where we are working with the community to develop, perhaps, a leg of the International Appalachian Trail. We are doing this because the geology fits and because we were approached by the International Appalachian Association in the US in the context of developing a leg of the trail from Donegal to Northern Ireland. This is a matter on which we are working with a number of partners. In the context of tourism, having that type of brand recognition in a big market such as the US would hopefully result in more visitors from that market coming to the north west. It is important to state that none of this would have come about if there had not been a strong partnership approach. Comhairle na Tuaithe was instrumental in facilitating access to the relevant land. A number of schemes that were part and parcel of this approach were also extremely important. We are currently working with the national trails office and we will be conducting a review of the trails throughout the country. From our point of view, we would like to prioritise the areas on which we should spend more money and in respect of which we should expend more energy in developing interpretation and animation of trails. Good work has been done in respect of infrastructure but there is a need to bring it to the next level.

Mr. Pender alluded to the increase in the number of visitors coming to Ireland for angling, particularly sea angling. We would probably need to carry out further research on the overall picture but in the context of sea angling, there is huge interest within our European markets. Our largest market for angling is the UK. We are finding evidence of increasing numbers of UK anglers coming to Ireland to participate in shore angling, particularly in respect of bass. The latter is the only species which is managed for recreational angling purposes. The fact that there has been a ban in place here in respect of the commercial fishing of bass for some time has led to massive recognition of and kudos for our efforts within the UK angling community in particular. We are building a reputation for offering the best quality bass angling experience in Europe. This is certainly a matter which we, in conjunction with the various agencies and partners, would be keen to explore further.

Deputy McNamara's comment on lighthouses is correct. This is a resource on which we would be extremely interested in working. We have had a number of meetings with the Commissioners of Irish Lights and collectively we are putting together a plan which will hopefully result in the development of a lighthouse trail along our coastline. More importantly, however, we must consider how this asset will fit with existing developments such as the Wild Atlantic Way and add major value to people's holiday experience. Evidence of such added value can be seen in the south east in the context of Hook Head lighthouse, etc. We are actively engaged in developing this project at present.

In the context of partnerships and input from the private sector, Mr. Pender referred to the greenway. There are, however, other examples of where we have invested in infrastructure and of where the private sector has come on board. The economic impact study carried out approximately one year after the greenway was completed highlighted the number of new businesses which had developed additional services on the back of the investment in this regard. We are hopeful that the "blueway" infrastructure will realise a great deal of marine activities such as kayaking, angling, snorkelling, diving, etc.