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

No. For instance, we took on Annes Grove in County Cork a couple of years ago and have since developed it and opened it up as a very important attraction for east Cork, for the south-east region as a whole and for Ireland's Ancient East. I am delighted that one of our sites that is local to the Chairman, Kilkenny Castle, was voted best visitor attraction in Ireland. I pay tribute to all of our guides working down there. They are doing a fantastic job, as are guides across the country. We have in our care several hundred national monuments. Some have permanent guides, some have self-guided tours and some just have a keyholder. Their significance is based on the number of visitors they get. The more visitors we get through particular locations, the more resources we can provide for them. In that context, it is really up to local authorities and local communities to drive forward with plans to use the properties they have in the centres of their communities. I will use an example from my own area. The number of visitors to Desmond Castle in Newcastlewest increased from approximately 1,100 to 27,000 or 28,000 last year. That was really driven by the local community and the local guides employed by the OPW. They put in place a plan to promote and use the facility. The more people we get in there, the more guides we can apportion to the site and the longer the season we will be able to open it for, particularly for guided tours. The local authorities have a very significant role in this. I was formerly a Minister of State with responsibility for tourism and, at that time, I got the local authorities to introduce local authority tourism action plans and to work with the OPW. Some have been excellent. Kilkenny County Council has been one of the best in the country with regard to the package it offers, which consists of OPW sites within the city and other sites we could see more people going through. For instance, St. Mary's in Gowran is very close to the city and, with some small money provided by Fáilte Ireland, Kilkenny County Council or both, that site could be promoted as an add-on to Kilkenny Castle and the city's Medieval Mile trail, which would really help the village and community of Gowran.