Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge his enthusiasm. He seems to be present at every event associated with tourism or sport in which he encourages people to become actively involved.

Like Deputy Jim Daly, I will speak more about what Tourism Ireland could do locally rather than nationally. More than 8 million people visited Ireland in 2015, but one must remember that there is an indigenous local tourism industry. Instead of travelling abroad, people stay in Ireland - most families stay local. I will focus on where the sume of €15 million could be spent locally. We have a very good body in Kildare - Kildare Fáilte. It struggles to obtain funding from local authorities and would love to get its hands on some of the additional €150 million being given to Fáilte Ireland. The body which is run by Phil Donnelly of Newbridge Silverware and which also involves Bridget Loughlin in the Kildare heritage office has identified a number of facilities in Kildare where funding could prove useful. There is Ireland's Ancient East and Castletown House which we have identified. There are so many things around Castletown that people could visit, but there is no funding available to Fáilte Ireland for local projects, something at which we could look.

When I look at what Kildare has to offer, two of the main thoroughfares through it are the Royal Canal and the Grand Canal. I welcome the transfer of funding from Galway to Maynooth and Mullingar. The Grand Canal links Dublin almost the whole way to Waterford and one can either walk or cycle it. We need funding to open it up in order that people will be able to use that facility, whether they are local or from outside. Last week I highlighted Arthur's Way which extends from where Arthur Guinness was born in Leixlip to where he is buried in Oughterard, along the Grand Canal. It is a great facility, but we need to extend it further.

Many tourists pass through Kildare on their way from Dublin to places like Westport and do not have an opportunity to stop. We would like them to stop at the facilities we have available. I will list them. As Deputy Jim Daly said, they receive very little support from Fáilte Ireland. There are racetracks such as Punchestown where a well known international meeting is held every year and which brings attracts tourists from all over. It works hard at this, but it needs assistance from Fáilte Ireland. We have bogs such as that at Lullymore which is a tremendous facility. We also have the National Stud and, as I said, the canals. I would like the Minister of State, if possible, to transfer some of the money going to Fáilte Ireland to the NTA in order that it could open up these routes, whether for international or local tourists who use the facilities all the time. It is important that funding drop down to organisations such as Kildare Fáilte which could distribute it to local communities and which is actively encouraging people, locally and internationally, to use the facilities mentioned.

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