Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Unfortunately, the allocation for arts, sport and tourism was reduced by 22% in the last budget and were any further cuts to be made, I would be concerned as to whether any budget would remain. The cut of 22% means the Department already has taken a major hit and I believe its allocation has fallen by €151 million. In the light of such an enormous deficit, what impact would it have were such cuts to proceed apace? The local authorities swimming pool programme already has been lost and nothing has happened since 2000. In spite of the Minister's remarks to Deputy Mitchell on tourism, clearly problems exist there. It is a huge industry that must be encouraged and developed and consequently, serious concerns arise in respect of further cuts to the budget.

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