Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I come from County Wexford and we host some of the country's most valuable tourism attractions, such as one of the oldest lighthouses in the world at Hook Head. That must continue to thrive. The Minister mentioned our film industry. We can expect an influx of tourists given, we hope, our success rate at the Oscars and not just the fact that Irish films have been nominated. Wexford is especially heavily dependant on tourism. We employ slightly fewer than 10,000 people in the tourism and hospitality sector. We have some of the finest hotels and we are about to develop Duncannon Fort, close to where I am from, and make significant investment, which I hope will be in the range of €2 million to €3 million. We must bear in mind that all the attractions are in rural Ireland. It is significant investment. We need to look at how we will retain jobs and ensure it is viable for the employees to work in this sector. We must not forget that we are developing Rosslare Europort. It is in Wexford. It is the hub and our most direct point to Europe and we expect an influx of hundreds of thousands of visitors in the coming year.

See this speech in context