Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

Neither of them made an impact within the Department up to now, but this is a positive development, which I warmly welcome. I hope it will succeed in the targets that have been set in providing the type of facilities urgently needed in the area, which does not have and traditionally did not have tourist amenities.

The River Shannon is a significant asset, but it is critically important there is one promoting agency for it. Currently, the river acts as a boundary in tourism promotion, with Ireland West, which deals with matters up to the River Shannon, Midlands East, which takes over from there and other tourism agencies in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. The River Shannon is the single biggest asset in the midlands and it should be the focus of development rather than the unco-ordinated and bordered development it is at the moment. I hope the Minister, with the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, will consider this issue.

I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, is here for my contribution. I hope he will at last act on the annual flooding caused by the river. When he was president of the IFA, he was going to move mountains and he blamed the Government and politicians for their lack of action. Although a pre-feasibility report has been produced, it is about time we saw action on the ground.

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