Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Mr. Cawley on his nomination. Like Deputy Timmins, I have the honour of knowing him from my home town of Greystones, which is now his home town. I know one might need to ruffle feathers on occasion and anybody who knows Mr. Cawley knows that he is well able to ruffle feathers when he feels passionate about important issues. I believe he will be a very good fit for this job. It is a proud day for our county as well, to have one of our well-known residents in this position. I wish him and his family the best of luck.

Mr. Cawley brings significant business acumen to the job. In addition, he has an ability to work with people and to bring people together. I am pleased to hear his comments on the success of The Gathering. There was so much local information collected and collated that we must keep that network going. There were so many volunteers, people who had probably never been involved in promoting this country previously. They voluntarily sat at meetings and brainstorming sessions and came up with ideas, many of which we never even reached, during The Gathering. That is a huge pool and network that we must maintain.

I am particularly pleased that the chairman-designate of Fáilte Ireland is living in Wicklow. If I can be parochial, Wicklow has been neglected for years with regard to tourism. Until very recently, when Fáilte Ireland had a policy shift, it was viewed as on Dublin's doorstep. It was the official definition of Wicklow. When one asked Fáilte Ireland about Wicklow's position, it was in the product called "Dublin's doorstep". As Mr. Cawley, anybody living in County Wicklow and people involved in tourism know, there is much more to Wicklow than being just an extension of Dublin. I very much welcome the designation of a new product, which is Wicklow-Kildare. It is working well and there is a huge amount more to be done in that area.

Mr. Cawley spoke about co-operating with other State agencies. I recently attended a briefing by Coillte. Common sense prevailed regarding a decision not to proceed with the sale of the harvesting rights, but we must now examine Coillte and what it can bring to the table in respect of tourism. There are some well known Wicklow residents involved in Coillte as well, but there appears to be a sense that Coillte and its potential in terms of a tourism asset is not being utilised. I strongly share that view.

My final point is one that all public representatives, including Deputy Timmins, make quite regularly. It is about the issue of signage. It is quite perverse to have a State agency in this country telling our villages and towns that they cannot direct tourists to their destinations. I understand we cannot have main roads littered with signs and we cannot promote every pub and tourism product at every crossroad, but the arrogance of the National Roads Authority, NRA, in dealing with this issue has been quite astonishing. We need to bang heads together. It is frustrating for communities that come together, in both my county and other counties, and really work on promoting their destination, only to be told by tourists that they could not find it or drove past it.

Mr. Cawley is a perfect fit for the job and I wish him the best.