Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the 9% VAT rate, Deputy Catherine Murphy raised the possibility of unintended beneficiaries, which is a very valid issue. I would welcome it if we were to look into that so that there would be funding available for more worthy causes. In the context of this discussion, however, I also have to acknowledge that it is probably one of the most pro-rural policies by any Government in the history of the State, in that it has got into every community and made a really strong impact. While there may be unintended beneficiaries, and every effort should be made to weed them out, it is a positive and progressive move that is helping tourism.

We are doing really well on the tourism front and are at capacity for a number of months of the year, particularly from May to September. Looking at the October to March or April season, I have often said I am a great believer that we have massive potential for winter tourism. The Wild Atlantic Way is an example of a product that could help us to build on that potential. Has the Department ever looked at trying to make a product of the winter time as such? The "Celtic winter experience" is something I was thinking of myself that could be marketed internationally. We could really drive this thing on to give sustainable employment throughout the year. One of the big problems with tourism is that employment is not year round. It is hard to sustain local communities when there are not all-year employment opportunities. What efforts have been made to boost those shoulder months and give a year-round dimension to our tourism product and employment?