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

I welcome Deputy Troy's support for the Bill. Deputy O'Keeffe also expressed his support for it on Committee Stage.

Deputy Troy has repeated the request he made on Committee Stage for an update on the lakelands brand. This is one of the issues that were discussed when I met the chairperson of Fáilte Ireland recently. I will give the up-to-date position in this regard to Deputy Troy as soon as I get it. That is no problem. As I said on Committee Stage, we have some very good tourism brands in this country. The Wild Atlantic Way has been a phenomenal success. Ireland's Ancient East is a phenomenal success as well and I think it will be an even greater success into the future. There is a Dublin brand as well. I will not deviate from the point I made on Committee Stage, which is that I think local authorities can play a huge part in the response in these areas and brands, including in my own county. That is why the Department, at my instruction, recently asked that a subset of the County and City Management Association come together with a view to looking at how local authorities can assume the responsibility given to them under the local government Acts to ensure they exploit the capital investment that is allowable under Fáilte Ireland. I recently met the Westmeath county manager at an event along the banks of the Royal Canal.

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