Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman and for the opportunity to speak on the National Tourism Development Authority (Amendment) Bill. I acknowledge the increase in funding from €300 million to €500 million.

Tourism is one of Ireland’s most important economic sectors and its significance as a source of employment and regional development cannot be underestimated. The substantial increase in funding will allow Fáilte Ireland to better support tourism, enterprise and projects, as well as the development of tourism facilities and services across our country.

By increasing investment in both Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, we can continue to improve and promote our overall offering as a top-quality and value-for-money destination. Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on tourism in the past two years and the focus now must be on supporting the sector as it rebounds by restoring jobs and continuing to promote domestic staycations to make Ireland an attractive place for international visitors.

The tourism sector has proven vitally important in Mayo and this has been shown by the success of the Wild Atlantic Way. Prioritising continuous investment in the Wild Atlantic Way is a priority of mine, which in turn will bring further sustainable benefits to communities all across our western seaboard. New innovative tourism projects continue to be developed in our county, including the investment of over €20 million at Westport House. There is also the development of the Wild Nephin National Park at Ballycroy and a €2.6 million investment in the state-of-the-art visitor centre at the Céide Fields which has recently opened.

We are very fortunate also that we have the Great Western Greenway, Ireland’s first greenway, running 44 km around the east and northern stretches of Clew Bay with many future plans in place to extend this towards Louisburgh and beyond. We must, therefore, continue to invest heavily in our greenways and cycle routes to achieve an integrated nationwide network. With increased funding provided by this Bill, we need to continue to deliver tourism projects which have been earmarked for County Mayo. These include the outdoor water-based activity centres at Keel on Achill Island and also at Carrowmore Beach in Louisburgh. I was given a provisional date of 2024 before these projects will be operational, but I believe that we need to revisit or ensure that we have additional focus on the delivery times for these Fáilte Ireland-supported projects.

Also, we have projects earmarked around the Keem Bay Signature Discovery Point and a 56 km cycle track to the Wild Nephin National Park at Ballycroy.

The collaboration between Fáilte Ireland and the local authorities needs additional oversight, especially within the Oireachtas, and I would definitely support any call the Minister’s Department might make in this regard.

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