Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (Supplementary)

6:15 pm

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The point of the Deputy refers to is an important one. We had a recent discussion on this matter in the tourism leadership group which looks at how we support the development of tourism in Ireland. One of the things we will consider, and the next Government should do, is to re-engage with the communities located alongside the Wild Atlantic Way as we did when the concept was initially launched to see what further ideas and actions can take the concept onto the next stage. Part of all of that is the development of loops. These are routes off the Wild Atlantic Way to take tourists to new parts of the relevant counties or regions. Perhaps that can be used to address the point Deputy Fleming made. I must note that these things will always be predicated on the availability of funding because all of these developments cost money. The Wild Atlantic Way is not static or fixed in terms of how we will execute it. While the region itself will not change, anything we can do with loops, blue ways and green ways is the way to keep the concept growing in the coming years.