Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The decision by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to remove Drogheda's only hotel of scale from public use continues to cause anger and frustration locally. This decision, made without consultation with tourism and business interests, is causing absolute havoc among people in Drogheda in terms of how they consider themselves to be viewed by the Government. I have been asked to invite the Taoiseach to visit our town at the first opportunity to meet with business and tourist interests and ordinary people. The decision has been made. What we need now is a significant and focused support package to mitigate the impact on tourism. The Taoiseach has done a lot of work in Drogheda, including with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, the new apprenticeships centre and the Drogheda Institute of Future Education. He knows Drogheda very well. We need him to visit. We need action on this issue and we need it now.

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