Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will be a food hub and it will give a lift to everything around it. Fáilte Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service are developing ideas in the six national parks in County Mayo. It is good to have communities, State agencies and local authorities involved. There are problems in all local authorities with pet projects. I cannot do anything about that. They make the applications and we adjudicate on them. Sometimes we find that the scheme applied for does not comply with the wishes of the elected representative. However, he or she has an input into it. The ideas are brought before the local authorities and the elected representatives, who then have an opportunity to support or refuse to support particular projects.