Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Donegal has so much to offer in respect of small to medium enterprises. I visited Donegal myself on a number of occasions, both in a personal capacity on holiday and also visiting the local enterprise offices, LEOs. The LEO in Letterkenny is doing really good work.

I say to Deputy Pringle that the branding of Donegal is really good internationally. It is recognised as the coolest place on earth to visit, which is really good. We need to continue to develop Donegal, particularly those small enterprises in the tourist capacity. The Deputy should look at the branding the LEOs have done in respect of The Food Coast, which was an LEO initiative. The Food Coast is a fantastic initiative to build on the success of the Wild Atlantic Way. There is so much that can happen along the Wild Atlantic Way in Donegal with its fantastic Atlantic coastline, small resorts and villages and wonderful beaches. I have seen the shops myself, the cafes the Deputy talked about, small enterprises, all growing as a result of that fantastic initiative, the Wild Atlantic Way.

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Griffin, will be in Donegal next Monday to open Fanad lighthouse officially, which has been a tremendous success. I visited it myself last year in Donegal. I have seen the success of Loop Head lighthouse in my own constituency, which brings 30,000 or 40,000 visitors a year and is growing all the time. The same can be done in Donegal. We have seen a huge drop in unemployment in Donegal in recent times - 43% over the last four years. There is real potential to grow micro-enterprise in Donegal and to work with the LEOs. The LEOs play a fantastic role in that. There is Project Ireland 2040 as well, the road network and the collaboration that is going to exist between Strabane, Derry and Donegal. All these are initiatives that will build Donegal.

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