Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for facilitating me in bringing up this important issue. King John's Castle is synonymous with Limerick city. If one looks at items in the media, the first place one sees and thinks of is King John's Castle. It has been part of the Shannon Group for many years and prior to that it was within the Shannon Development Group. An agreement has been reached between the Shannon Group and Limerick City and County Council that King John's Castle will be transferred to Limerick City and County Council, effective from next Monday, 4 April. I know many of the staff working there and they are excellent. It has been agreed that a full transfer will be undertaken so that all of the 14 staff working there, along with part-time staff during the summer months, will automatically transfer. They are going into a wholly owned subsidiary of Limerick City and County Council, Discover Limerick, which is a designated activity company, DAC.

Limerick City and County Council has submitted a proposal, via the Shannon Group, to the Department on a funding gap for the first three years to enable it to have a smooth transition. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will be aware that the site had 111,000 tourists visiting it back in 2019. Two years ago that had dropped to 50,000 and last year it was down to 24,000. We want to put King John's Castle in a financial position such that it can come back to those numbers. Limerick City and County Council has put this proposal to the Minister of State's Department via the Shannon Group and directly to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Already Limerick City and County Council looks forward to taking over the running of King John’s Castle, along with its employees. It has put €500,000 into Discover Limerick DAC, which will be looking after all tourist activities. That company is responsible for the management and operation of King John’s Castle but with the move over, items that would have been dealt with under the Shannon Group such as IT systems; financial and human resources; marketing and sales; and legal issues will all have to be dealt with by Limerick City and County Council. These issues will have major set-up costs. Furthermore, Limerick City and County Council has already put a financial controller in place and is advertising for a sales and marketing official as well.

I want the Minister of State to provide a commitment from the Government. I understand that discussions are ongoing between Limerick City and County Council and the Departments. I want to see a commitment from the Government that whatever funding is required to enable that smooth transition will be forthcoming. However, the good news is that King John’s Castle is already operating seven days a week and come 4 April, next Monday, Limerick City and County Council will continue to operate it on a seven-day per week basis with the 14 employees and the summer workers who will come on board. Limerick City and County Council is looking to grow the business there but we need initial Government support over the first year to ensure we can get to a point where King John’s Castle is performing at a premium and gets to that figure of 111,000 tourists per annum and much higher.

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