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

Fáilte Ireland is on Comhairle na Tuaithe and I understand it has had a preliminary meeting. It is important to obtain the view of Comhairle na Tuaithe on the importance of the work.

I hope the Department of Finance can give legal certainty on whether the proposal regarding VAT is possible. If there is a legal impediment at present short of an EU change of law, that is fine. If there is not, it would be a huge boon if the bill for everything bought could be reduced by 23%.

From living in an area with plenty of mountains and hills and my experience of the huge amount of work done, I believe the current set of circumstances is unsustainable. We need to recognise that the delegates do not just comprise a group of volunteers engaged in a voluntary capacity but a group providing a service that the State needs urgently if we are to continue to develop rural recreation in the mountains.