Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. My role and that of my Department in relation to tourism includes the development of national policy and the securing of resources to assist the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, in the implementation of policy.

County Louth is included in Ireland's Ancient East Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023-2027. Ireland's ancient east is not only internationally renowned for its rich heritage but also for the variety of tracks and trails by which the region can be explored and discovered. Its diverse landscape provides the visitor with a rich tapestry from which to unlock the living culture unique to the place and underpinned by 5,000 years of heritage and tradition evidenced by its many historical sites.

I had the pleasure of visiting County Louth at the invitation of Deputy Butterly earlier this year. We encountered so many good businesses like Greenore Port, and Sandra Byrne of EliteForm Manufacturing, another very exciting company. We also saw some of the many picturesque areas across the county.

Regional tourism development strategies are being activated across every region through a series of local area action plans, referred to as destination and experience development plans, DEDPs. The "Ancient" destination experience development plan, which was launched in May 2021, is a five-year plan designed to be a roadmap for enhancing the existing visitor proposition to achieve the objectives of addressing seasonality, increasing visitor numbers, and improving dwell time and visitor dispersion in the Boyne Valley and surrounding areas of Louth and Meath. Since the launch of the Ancient DEDP in May 2021, 26 projects have been completed, while a further 41 are in progress across its four strategic pillars. Key achievements to date include the completion of a plan to reimagine the Boyne Valley drive and the development of an outdoor destination orientation development plan for Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula. Fáilte Ireland is also presently conducting a mid-term review of the Ancient DEDP to ensure it is updated to reflect present day challenges.

In May, I announced the recipients of funding under Fáilte Ireland's new "Home of Halloween" pilot destination development scheme. A total of €1.5 million will be invested over the next three years, from 2025 to 2028, aiming to establish Ireland as an authentic global home of Hallowe'en. Each successful destination, which included a joint proposal by Meath County Council and Louth County Council, will receive up to €100,000 annually to develop Hallowe'en-themed festivals that celebrate Ireland’s heritage and attract visitors during the off-peak season.

The Government remains committed to supporting the tourism and hospitality sector in County Louth and the wider north-east region. Critically, there are a few things we are significantly working on. We are revising our tourism plan, which we will have finished by September. That is going to reflect that tourism is now in the heart of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. We will be focused on SMEs, how we absorb that capacity and a change in direction which will be key, namely that we will have key performance indicators right at the heart of it. This will be an accelerant for key areas like those the Deputy mentioned. We are also looking to expand the season from St. Brigid's Day out to Hallowe'en, which will be very important to attract more visitor numbers into our country.

My intention is to come forward with an all-island food strategy which would be very important to attract visitors. It is a significant advantage for our country. We are also looking at working with our agencies to ensure that we are capturing the massive amount of opportunity in our destination and experience development plans, really putting money right behind where the evidence suggests we can attract more visitors.

A lot of good is going to happen in our tourism sector. I would point out that over the first quarter of the year, which generally comprises a small proportion of tourism in the year, the airport cap was still in place. We had approximately 6% fewer seats. From May to December, we have approximately 11% more seats coming into Ireland - about 1.65 million people - which is very significant. Hopefully that will reflect positively and we will have a good year. The measures the Deputy has outlined in relation to VAT are also very important for the SME sector.

See this speech in context