Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is happening already and Deputy Munster has identified one example herself. I can give another example of a new tourism initiative on the Fanad Peninsula in Donegal, another Border county, which I visited recently to see the work being done by the Commissioners of Irish Lights, Fáilte Ireland and Donegal County Council. I go back to the original point I made which is that local authorities have, for the first time, developed tourism strategies and I must pay tribute to the County Manager in Count Louth, in that context. Recently we launched the tourism investment strategy in Newgrange for sites in both Louth and Meath but no Members of the Oireachtas attended the launch. We announced the capital investment programme for Louth and Meath in the presence of the Meath County Manager and the tourism officer for the Louth, Meath region. The Louth, Meath region has been to the fore with regard to the development of a destination plan, which is very important. The counties are collaborating well together. As I said at the outset, the CEOs of local authorities and, more importantly, local councillors cannot look at tourism as something in which they might get involved. The Local Government Act makes it clear that tourism is something they must consider in terms of spending their own resources as well as accessing resources for current expenditure on things like branding, festivals and so forth, as well as capital funding.

As I said earlier to Deputy Fitzpatrick, where Fáilte Ireland sees a commitment from local authorities, I have encouraged it to look at those local authorities that have particular needs and deficits. One of the things that Louth and Meath do not have, for example, is an underdeveloped hotel sector. They have a very well developed hotel sector, with some of the finest hotels in the country in those locations. I have spent time in those counties and Deputy Fitzpatrick will attest to the fact that I called on him, unsolicited, one day. In terms of both accommodation and dining opportunities, I am very familiar with the quality of the offering.

However, it will not be down to Fáilte Ireland to magic up something for an area. Local authorities, local councillors and Leader companies all have a role within the tourism strategies which have been launched and adopted. What the Department wants to see on an annual basis is a statement of delivery. Such a statement should include details of what was done in the previous year and the plans for the coming year. Fáilte Ireland and the Department will reciprocate, based on that. It is also important to point to the development of the greenway strategy. Up until the time that myself and the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, were appointed there was no strategy for the development of greenways. Everybody and anybody was involved. The OPW, the NPWS, the county councils, the Department itself, Coillte and others had a role in the development of greenways. I met representatives of the Louth, Meath area recently and they are very anxious to develop a greenway network in that region but that can only be done on the basis of strategic investment in a planned and organised fashion. That is what we are trying to do in the Department.