Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Bord na Móna has worked in partnership with the local authority and other agencies to provide the Lough Boora parkland which includes lakes for fishing, trails for walking and cycling through the bog and a sculpture park which attracts international artists. Artists come into the community and, with local help, create something thought provoking and in keeping with the landscape. It is a haven for wildlife and is used by locals and visitors alike.

Like the Eden project, the Lough Boora parkland takes a site with a previous use to develop it into a different and new tourism product. I welcome Bord na Móna's plans to expand and develop this exciting project. Other examples in Offaly of using such sites could include using disused railway lines as walking and cycling tracks and developing and enhancing walks in the Slieve Bloom mountains, ideas which should be examined by our tourism bodies.

Our key markets are Britain, the United States, France and Germany. This year's figures show that the number of visitors from Britain has increased by 9.3% compared with last year's. We should ask ourselves why people visit Ireland instead of other countries. Research has shown that our scenery, friendly people, safe environment and cultural and historical attractions are the main reasons.

We have many wonderful products and attractions, but the potential of the garden visitor has not been realised. Many beautiful gardens across the country, both large and small, have been developed over the years. They are an attraction for specific tourists, but they have not been sufficiently marketed. For example, 500,000 people visited the Botanic Gardens last year. Surely this would be an outstanding location to access further information about other gardens around the country that can be visited by members of the public. In my region, we have the internationally renowned Birr Castle and gardens in County Offaly and Heywood Gardens in County Laois. The visitors to Birr Castle and gardens contribute €250,000 annually to the local economy in bed nights and other spend. This is not to be sniffed at in a small area and should be encouraged.

Were a visitor interested in gardens, how would I learn where to access these attractions? We are losing opportunities to highlight the presence of these wonderful attractions at international shows such as the Chelsea Flower Show and the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in England. Demographically speaking, visitors to these types of show are those who can stay, spend large amounts and visit during the off season.

Counties Laois and Offaly have a rich ecclesiastical history with ancient sites at Clonmacnoise, Durrow, Seir Kieran, Aghaboe Abbey, the Rock of Dunamaise and the round tower at Timahoe. I draw the Minister of State's attention to Durrow Abbey near Tullamore, which is undergoing restoration and conservation work. The high cross is located within the abbey, but there is a difficulty with providing safe access to the site. I understand that Fáilte Ireland has a strategy to develop hard tourism products. County Offaly has such a project in Durrow Abbey, but the problem arises in that it is only allowed to spend its funding on specific types of project. We need flexibility in the provision of funding to develop this product. Cross-departmental co-operation with national bodies and local authorities would help to solve these road blocks and ensure that, in these financially straitened times, we make good use of scarce funding and think outside the box as we continue to develop tourism projects.

People visit Ireland for a variety of reasons, including our arts and theatre. The amount of employment and enjoyment that can be gleaned from participating in these is good for Ireland and visitors. The number of people who visit Ireland after seeing images of Ireland on the big screen, put there by film companies working here, is also interesting. We should not underestimate the potential of attracting visitors to locations where films have been shot. We should develop trails around areas where beautiful images of our countryside and cities have been shot. People could have an opportunity to see them in an organised and simple way.

I have probably run out of time, but I would like to discuss other matters such as fishing and tourism officers in each county to support festivals. We need to focus on tourism, given how much we have to offer. Other countries would love to have what we do.

See this speech in context