John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are supporting it all right. It is the Government that is not doing so, considering what it has done. On several occasions, the possibility of facilitating a presentation by Waterford council and tourism personnel on the merits of expanding the Wild Atlantic Way was discussed with the Minister of State.

Can the Minister of State confirm even now that he did not have that meeting before the decision was even made? Has this presentation taken place without my knowledge? Perhaps it has. I do not know. Does the Government plan to do it? The point remains that the Government has excluded 140 km of coastline and 50 beaches with huge tourism potential based on Fáilte Ireland's first initiative. The reason Fáilte Ireland designated part of the Wild Atlantic Way was the drop in tourism. The greatest drop in tourism was in the south east. It does not make sense.

See this speech in context