Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a short and technical Bill to provide a statutory basis for allowing the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to increase the funding that can be made to Fáilte Ireland. A previous amendment, the National Tourism Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2016, increased this amount to €300 million. This legislation will increase it further to €500 million. We in Sinn Féin will support this increased investment in tourism and its promotion. Fáilte Ireland’s role is to support enterprises and projects relating to tourism development in the Twenty-Six Counties. I commend the work of Into Kildare, Visit Offaly and Laois Tourism on the work they do in promoting the respective counties. The midlands have so much to offer, from a barge trip on the canal in Monasterevin to a visit to Derryounce Lakes or a walk along Offaly Way. Many small businesses, however, are struggling to recover from the havoc wrought on them by Covid-19 over the past two years. We need to ensure these businesses get the help they need and deserve, particularly in the difficult winter season ahead. Many of them are currently suffering because of the cost-of-living crisis and the energy crisis.

There is also an ongoing issue of a lack of development in certain areas, in particular the midlands and Border regions. This disparity needs to be addressed. We expect great things when the Barrow Blueway is finished next year for towns such as Rathangan, Monasterevin and Athy. That cannot come quickly enough because these towns are dying on their feet. The dereliction that has been tolerated for the past 20 or 30 years needs to be addressed. Croí Cónaithe is not good enough. We must have a carrot-and-stick approach. Levies on vacant and derelict sites must be followed up and collected. The owners of buildings that have been left to rot need to be helped, encouraged and, if necessary, forced to bring these buildings back into use or they must sell them to somebody else who will. Gone are the days of tolerating dereliction, which is a blight on our towns and increasingly so in rural areas. We are currently crying out for homes in counties Kildare, Laois and Offaly and for local jobs and premises to accommodate these workplaces. Sinn Féin in government will address this with a fair approach, more carrot than stick. It is unconscionable in this day and age that we have 160,000 homes vacant in the State during a housing crisis.

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