Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)

I thank the Minister for coming before the House to take this matter. To date, the service has carried over 150,000 customers, 75% of whom have UK addresses. This highlights the absolute dependence of the south-west region on tourism. The Minister came to the region during the summer to open the Mizen Head Bridge, which has been short-listed for an international engineering award. The ferry service is vital and the benefits to be had from tourism have an impact throughout the entire south west. In many ways, retention of the service would have the knock-on effect of reducing the reliance people who have lost their jobs have on social welfare payments. This matter highlights the importance of tourism to the region.

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