Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hold in my hand a model of Bunratty Castle, a 600 year old building. We used it as a teaching aid. I was a teacher up to a few weeks ago when I was elected to this House. That 600 year old building has withstood sieges, famines, two or three burnouts and many battles but it is now facing its greatest challenge, namely, solvency and financial survival. The Minister made a whistle-stop visit last year, which was so quick I did not get to meet him. I was mayor of the county but he was gone in a flash. We desperately needed to meet him then and we really need his intervention now. Along with Craggaunowen, Knappogue and King John's Castle, Bunratty Castle is one of four Shannon Heritage sites in the mid-west. Bunratty Castle and King John's Castle will open on 29 June but the other sites will remain closed for the rest of the year. The crucial point for Bunratty Castle and King John's Castle is that they will close again on 31 August. Senior management in the Shannon Group say they cannot afford to keep the sites open throughout the autumn and winter and the domestic tourism market alone will not be enough to keep them afloat and financially buoyant. That is extremely worrying for the mid-west. At a time we need to attract people to our region and delve into that domestic tourism market we are closing down our jewel in the crown - strategic sites. How can we entice people to the mid-west on the one hand but on the other tell them that our key sites are closed and they should look elsewhere? There will be a domino effect also from these looming closures on the many hotels, bed and breakfast premises and litany of bars and restaurants that depend on the 400,000 annual visitors to Bunratty Castle.

In its end days the aviation task force set up by the Minister has to throw a ball of money at the aviation sector but also at Shannon Heritage as a subsidiary of the Shannon Group. I was very disappointed when two nominees I proposed the Minister include, Gerry Clarke of the Shannon cabin crew and Allen Flynn, a prominent hotelier in Clare, were excluded from the task force.

The Minister also needs to urgently examine addressing the imbalance in aviation. Flights continue to leave from and land in Cork and Dublin airports but nothing is happening in Shannon Airport. We need to return to 24-7 operations to keep the airport afloat, solvent and trading into the new year. Deputy Willie O'Dea and I met staff in the airport the other day. It is crucial that whatever trickle of air travel comes in and out of Ireland is shared equally throughout the country. We cannot have workers laid off in Shannon while people who are far more junior in the hierarchy of staff are kept on elsewhere.

The last point I want to briefly make is on bed and breakfast premises. Under the business restart rules, they cannot avail of any supports because they are not rated premises. The Minister will have to look at that. They are losing out. They are the poor relations in the equation.

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