Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Transport is finalising an economic and tourism development plan for the wider Shannon Airport catchment area which has been prepared in consultation with the Departments of Finance; Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; and my own Department. The plan seeks to help the region respond to the challenges and opportunities emerging in the context of the EU-US open skies agreement.

Tourism agencies are acutely aware of the need to respond in a positive way to these challenges and both officials from my Department and I have been in dialogue with them about this. In the context of open skies, the Government is committed, under its programme, to providing "marketing support to the Shannon region for a transitional period to help consolidate existing markets and develop new sources of business".

In line with the commitment in the programme for Government, an appropriate tourism initiative has been formulated in the context of the development of the plan and I expect that, subject to approval of the plan, fuller details will emerge shortly. The Government has made no commitment to the specific sum of money mentioned by the Deputy, and both my predecessor and myself have made it clear that demands for funding should be realistic.

Subject to final approval, I would expect the initiative to focus on the wider western catchment, from Kerry to Donegal; be within the existing super-regions framework, in very close co-operation with the tourism agencies and key local industry interests with which I have already been in contact; and to be innovative, creative and have a strong digital media content.

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