Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister very much. County Mayo has benefited from both rounds of the platforms for growth investment. Westport House is an amazing facility and received a huge investment last year. I was delighted to see two Mayo locations also selected for facilities for water sports at Keel Sandybanks in Achill and Carrowmore beach in Louisburgh. They are fantastic destinations. County Mayo boasts a large number of beaches awarded blue flag and green coast status. In recent times, these have been important amenities for surfing, kite surfing, swimming, paddle boarding and kayaking so it is important that we have this type of investment. We want to ensure we can strengthen our appeal as a county with stronger outdoor water-based activities and facilities.

I was somewhat disappointed that we are not further along with the development and implementation of the investment scheme. As the Minister outlined, both projects are still at the planning process, with construction not due to commence on both facilities until later this year. I would like to see better project management around these projects. It has taken approximately two years to deliver them so any steps we can take to expedite them would be important.

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