Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all of the witnesses. In particular, I welcome the Fáilte Ireland delegation who are regular attendees here. As has been noted, the register if it works well can assist in the promotion of our product.

I welcome the fact that an official from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has said that the "general presumption" is that the provisions will not apply beyond rent pressure, which was said when those officials addressed the fears outlined by Deputy Cannon, which are fears I share. In allaying those fears, it was said that the operators in rural Ireland, in areas that were heretofore not the subject of tourism traffic, are now benefiting in particular because of things like greenways where people are off the beaten track. I see that now as a new greenway will be opened in my county and will stretch from Navan to Cavan. It is amazing what a greenway can do for the area. A greenway provides a different type of tourism product so a different type of operator is required that is beyond the traditional type of operator, which is what people are looking for in the tourism offering. We have so many rigid systems and people are so fluid now in how they choose that they need to be given other offerings. Mr. Sheridan made an interesting statement when he said that the new planning guidelines will supplement the initiative. When will the new planning guidelines be available?