Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that and I also appreciate the nature of the road. Deputies and Senators from many parts of the country are raising their concerns regarding road safety on particular routes. With the funding that we have secured, which was the first part of my job in this process, I will raise these issues with the NRA and local authorities.

In regard to the point raised by Senator Eamonn Coghlan in respect of application forms by smaller clubs, I take his point and I know where he is coming from in the sense that the smaller the club the more reliance it has on voluntary participation. In my own experience it tends to be a few people who do all the work and provide amazing training facilities to many young people. The challenge in regard to the application process - the Senator will be aware of this as will Senator Paschal Mooney - is that we have a duty to ensure the funding we deploy is spent well. In order for that to be done we have to know the objective of the club in terms of how the money would be spent and whether it has a good plan to do it. If an organisation fills in the form successfully and sets out how it plans to use funding, most organisations access a degree of funding. I will take on board the point the Senator made as to whether there is any way in which we could make it easier or more efficient for smaller clubs to access funding. I will look at this but I know it is an issue about which the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, feels strongly. He said this in the House in response to a question from Deputy Eoghan Murphy last Wednesday. We will look at the issue. Alongside that we have a duty to ensure the money we have is well spent.

Scrutiny is needed to do that.

I thank Deputy Fleming for raising the Ebola issue because it is a concern not only for tourists, as he said, but also for the broader public. Earlier in the summer, we made available to airport staff extensive information regarding what they need to do and what they need to be aware of and advertising campaigns have been run in our airports in this regard. However, I should make clear that there is only one direct route between Ireland and Africa, which is Dublin to Morocco. Clear information has been available to all our staff regarding what they should do but the level of risk for Ireland, as the Minister for Health has stated, is low. However, that does not mean people will be complacent in their duties in this regard. I am a member of the Cabinet sub-committee which is examining the issue, as is the chief health officer of the HSE. We have the correct protocols in our airports.

Where there is direct traffic between our ports and Africa, we have a system in place, which was agreed with the HSE and which meets the protocols of the World Health Organization, whereby any ship or container vessel approaching our ports must provide information regarding the health of the staff and sailors on board and where they have been within four and 24 hours of docking. That document must be provided before the ship attempts to dock. This screening is in place not just for Ebola, but for other hazards. I am confident that is being well used in our ports because the staff understand its importance.

With regard to Kerry Airport and other regional airports, the four year plan is with the Commission regarding operational and capital expenditure. When I receive the Commission's views and decision on this, I will then examine the support that can be made available to these airports. Deputy Fleming asked specifically about Kerry Airport. The PSO tenders have been shared with my Department and I am awaiting an adjudication on them from my officials. I will make the decision as soon as I can because I am aware of its importance to our regional airports.

I thank Senator Mooney for his comments in respect of the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ring, because he put significant work into allocating that money fairly and efficiently. On the issue of increased funding, I assure him that we put a massive effort into securing agreement for a third round of funding, which we will announce in the coming weeks. We will do all we can to make sure the funding provided makes a difference to people. The Senator referred to the centre for excellence in County Leitrim. I have not attended the centre but I visited the county during the summer with my family and I saw much of the great work that has been done by GAA clubs and tourism bodies. I am aware of the importance of the funding to them and others. The Minister of State and I will do all we can to make sure a good level of funding is in place and to make sure it is allocated in the way outlined by the Senator and Senator Coghlan. However, we need information from clubs and bodies first before we can do that.

Senator Mooney also raised an important issue regarding North-South co-operation.

I am absolutely committed to the role of Tourism Ireland. As a North-South body, it offers the most efficient and best way possible of marketing us as an island. I was in Boston a few weeks ago to support Tourism Ireland's event, "jump into Ireland", which was trying to get more American tourists and journalists to come to and write about Ireland. When they are deciding where to go and what to write about they look at an island; they do not decide what county to go to, they decide what they want to do while they are here. An excellent example of this is golf tourism, which is a high priority for us in the coming twelve months. We all know that two of the top ten golf clubs in the world are located in the North and I would strongly argue that the best way of marketing that across all parts of our island, North and South, is by a cohesive campaign from Tourism Ireland. I am committed, as is our Government, to the role of Tourism Ireland, whose team does an excellent job. When I was at the event in Boston, and at another event in London called "Flavours of Ireland"' a couple of weeks ago, I saw Northern businesses and tourism centres do an excellent job marketing themselves alongside businesses that are located in the South, all really well supported by Tourism Ireland.