Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I approached people in my county to try to sell the opportunity of the Royal Canal in particular. We started the project in Longford in 2012 and it has now morphed up to Dublin and from Dublin to Galway. There is a unique opportunity there. We held seminars with Fáilte Ireland and encouraged people to set up cafes, cycle shops, farmhouses and accommodation to make sure we benefit from it. We are jumping ahead of ourselves and could possibly damage something we invested a lot of time in.

As was said, a lot of this concerns regional parts of the country rather than the cities. I do not think the figure of 12,000 is at all realistic. That headline figure is constantly bandied about, but realistically a low percentage would become available for long-term housing. We cannot shoot ourselves in the foot for short-term gain and destroy a long-term tourism industry. Between 2011 and 2014 we reduced the VAT rate. The industry rebuilt and now employs over 260,000 people in the country. We need to get out the microscope again, examine this and be realistic.