Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely agree with the Deputy. The new national policy to mainstream sustainability that is under development requires such joined-up thinking around sustainable travel. It also requires joined-up thinking across Departments. We need to include food tourists, as the Deputy said. That would make sense. We are trying to drive people out of the capital city and into the regions for longer stays. We need to work on what is available in those communities, including local food, festivals and artists. We need to work on sustainable travel on our greenways, blueways and waterways. We need to use everything we use on the global stage to promote Ireland.

The Deputy also asked about health, which goes hand in hand with all of those initiatives. As a result of the pandemic, there has been more of an emphasis on active travel, which is also a focus of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. There is more emphasis on active travel and that is an example of where joined-up thinking will happen in respect of tourism policy.

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