Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

The review is being carried out by my Department. There was an initial promise to the effect that the operation of the trust would be reviewed following a five-year period. The original idea was that this would be a major initiative and that there would be a great deal of money available to the trust to allow it to take on other large-scale projects similar to the one at Fota House. Unfortunately, economic conditions changed and the initiative could not be continued. It is in those circumstances that my Department is carrying out its review of the trust in the context of the latter's future.

In respect of the strategic plan to which the Deputy referred, I visited Fota House recently and was very impressed by what I saw. Fota House and its gardens provide a major amenity for Cork city and the surrounding hinterland, which extends eastwards throughout the county and on towards Waterford. With proper promotion and a proper strategy - work on which is ongoing - I am of the view that Fota House will in time be in a position to sustain itself. The figure of €2.53 million about which the Deputy inquired relates to the operational activities of the trust.

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