Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. Unfortunately I do not hear any good news in his response about funds being available. I ask the Government to look at a package of measures, particularly in Galway where there is a substantial amount of damage. I am talking specifically about an area in Sligo. The Minister of State himself mentioned that the Sligo Camino is on privately owned commonage. It is a public amenity. The private owners of whatever areas of commonage facilitate it. It would not cost a huge amount of money. I said in the wording of my Topical Issue that the minor works scheme might not be appropriate, and the Minister of State has said that it is not, but there are other funds there. It is not a huge amount of money. I appeal to him to speak to his colleagues to see if some few shillings can be found to rectify this situation because we are talking about tourism. Some 1,000 people from all over the country, and beyond, are coming to the area for this event, which will have to be cancelled. We are talking about 500 metres. Surely we can knock our heads together to come up with the small level of resources needed to deal with this matter, notwithstanding the need for a larger look at the whole issue, particularly in Sligo and Galway where there has been substantial damage and ultimately a loss to the State in terms of revenue.

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