Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are several themes which would be very attractive, such as the lake district of Ireland. It is a matter of selling it. There may be too many themes at the moment and we do not want to confuse people but it certainly has a specific and particular attraction which I am sure would appeal to people. Ireland's lakes have a huge range of activities to offer, such as fishing, and it could work.

With regard to Deputy Munster's reference to Slieve Gullion and the Cooley Peninsula, I believe that is a local authority decision. The Deputy can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it is a situation where we cannot prejudge what the local authority will say or do. However, I am trying to think of a way through that. It is a very specific problem which we could probably address. Perhaps the Deputy could forward a summary of the problem and I could deal with it. It is probably a particular position on one incidence in the detail with which I can certainly help the Deputy, but I am unsure if it is being repeated elsewhere. That would be my only concern. If the Deputy wishes me to act upon it, I will make an approach to the local authority if that is acceptable to her.

With regard to Deputy Murphy's point, her approach is great because one cannot just lie down and say, "fine, it is the currency", and forget it. It is not and there are lots of other messages that go out and which could appeal to people. We do not have to restrict ourselves just because the UK is the biggest customer here and naturally probably always will be, or think that just because the currency has collapsed, it will stop people coming here. It will not because if there is cultural tourism and the film industry and all sorts of things, then we can attract people in other ways and I think that is absolutely true. In some ways perhaps we have had it too easy and the recent currency fluctuations have worked to our advantage for a very long time. We will need some new thinking.