John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Obviously the priority was for the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, and the money went into that area. I am sure that a substantial amount of the money allocated by the Minister went to the west. There is not much point in looking back at this stage. I remind the Deputy that €38 million has been allocated this year to the central and regional fisheries boards which are involved in a certain amount of tourism promotion. I intend to have discussions with the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, in the next few weeks as we prepare the national development plan 2007-13. Tourism angling cannot be treated in isolation of all the other tourist products but should be treated on a regional basis. The money was taken back three or four years ago for a genuine reason. I certainly hope we can find a mechanism to develop tourism angling into the future. I agree with Deputy Perry that it is an important sector of the tourism industry.

In recent weeks I attended various tourism angling projects throughout the country, a few of which were in my own county, which were developed by local hoteliers and business people, in conjunction with anglers from England, Wales and other parts of Europe, without State aid. There is a need for State aid but there is also a need for private investment in this area and I think that will be forthcoming.

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