Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. It is the first opportunity I have had to speak in the Dáil in my capacity as Minister of State since my appointment, and I thank the Taoiseach for having made the appointment.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, in his previous reply to a question referred to the development of greenways, to which Deputy Durkan refers. The Government is anxious to ensure that the use of capital investment through the smarter travel initiative be identified for these greenways. The Deputy is right that there is a number of challenges in the area of tourism development, none more so than in the Dublin region, namely, hotel availability, to which the Deputy referred from the point of view of conferencing. The Government is very conscious of this and we are actively considering the issue with a view to ensuring that we maximise the number of bed nights that can be achieved for business tourism and conferencing tourism so that people coming into the country, whether they are coming to the west, south or east, experience the maximum benefit for whatever their purpose. To that end, the development of the facilities to which the Deputy referred is a priority for the Government. The extension of the greenways and their use and accessibility is also a priority for the Government and a priority for Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, which are the agencies with responsibility for them.

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