Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I hope I can do so. The key solace is, first, that we hope to get out of level 5. King John's Castle has been closed since the level 3 restrictions were introduced. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park has some limited outdoor activities but it also had to close once level 5 restrictions were introduced. Those restrictions, more than anything else, have been a significant factor in the closures over recent months. We do not know what will happen in the new year but we hope, please God, as Deputy Cathal Crowe said, that we will start to see our way out of this pandemic. That is the first and key source of solace.

I absolutely agree with the Deputies on the importance of these two sites for the regional tourism sector. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media but it seems to me, in reading the response, that the €55 million fund that Fáilte Ireland will be managing for specific key, strategic tourism businesses may well be the best avenue in terms of getting support funding for operations as we start to recover.

As Minister for Transport, I have a keen interest in this area because both sites are operated and managed by Shannon Group, which is connected to enterprises at Shannon Airport and the industrial estate. Most Deputies will be aware that it is not just the workers in Shannon Heritage who are in real difficulties. The wider group, because of what has happened to the aviation sector, is in significant trouble. We have to look at this in the round. In that context, I encourage the Deputies, as I know they already are, to engage with Shannon Heritage on the best strategic response as well as in respect of the immediate support mechanisms which the Government is willing, and has been willing at every stage, to provide in order to support businesses. I would argue that one of the issues we need to think about right now is the wider strategic future for the likes of King John's Castle and Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which we want to see thrive again. We must give thought to the best structural way of doing that, given the ongoing difficulties with the entire group as a consequence of the Covid-19 crisis.

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