John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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This is an issue that has been discussed actively within Fáilte Ireland and the Department for some time. Over the last nine months we have discussed the facilitation of a presentation to be given by Waterford council and the people dealing with tourism in Waterford to expand the Wild Atlantic Way along east Cork and Waterford's Atlantic coastline. Since I met Shaun Quinn, the head of Fáilte Ireland, in July of last year a couple of very developments have occurred when it comes specifically to Waterford. The air route from Waterford Airport to London has been restored with flights to Luton beginning on Monday week.

Second, Waterford is at an advanced stage of planning and construction in respect of a range of major tourism related infrastructure projects along the coast, including the greenway from Dungarven to Waterford. There are similar projects going ahead in east Cork. The timing of any presentation is important. We are probably ready now, moreso than six months ago, to give this presentation if accepted. I stress in the House something I have mentioned on a couple of occasions to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring. We are really only interested in one thing and consider that we can make the case for inclusion in the Wild Atlantic Way based on merit. Adding the Waterford and east Cork coastlines to the Wild Atlantic Way will increase the saleability of the concept, not detract from it. That is the key thing. Before anyone puts up a hand and says we cannot do this as it might dilute the essence of the existing product, we think we can provide different elements to the Wild Atlantic Way that do not currently exist and which will add to the product being marketed as is.

The new tourism initiative unveiled yesterday could be a very useful product. I appreciate the work the Minister of State and his colleagues, including the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, have put into it. If marketed correctly, it is something that could work and which we will try to make successful in Waterford. It will obviously need a budget, which is a matter that will be discussed by the Cabinet. It is fair to say that there remains a strong belief in my county that the Wild Atlantic Way has more potential and is still of greater interest to businesses along our coastline. I am not dismissing in any way Ireland's Ancient East, the product that was announced yesterday, but for us the priority is our coastline and the way it is marketed. That remains the case. The product announced yesterday in no way, shape or form addresses that, which is its nature and that is fine. The focus for us must remain on the extension of the Wild Atlantic Way for that particular reason right now. That is in no way to dismiss the potential for the other product.

It is for me and some others slightly incongruous that when one goes on the Wild Atlantic Way website, the causeway coastal route is advertised. That is slightly unusual when the Waterford and east Cork coastlines are nowhere to be seen. I stress that we are not looking for a handout here. I would not be standing here if I thought the addition of east Cork and Waterford would not benefit tourism numbers for everyone concerned nationally. Obviously, an argument that makes sense to those involved in tourism in west Cork must be made and we are prepared to do that. All we need is an opportunity to make that case to them specifically as well as to others. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, as to whether our request for a presentation can be accommodated.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy John Deasy for raising this issue. I am glad to hear him refer to the initiative that was announced yesterday. It is very important for the east and south and I hope the community will buy into it. Deputy John Deasy is quite correct about the success of the Wild Atlantic Way. It has been a great success and as with any great success, people want to be part of it. However, what was announced yesterday can also be a success, but people have to buy into it. We do not need negativity on it, rather we need positivity. The community must buy in, which it has an opportunity now to do. I will respond to the Deputy on his other request after I read my reply into the record.

The role of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national policy. The development of the Wild Atlantic Way is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland and the Department is not directly involved in its development or management. That said, I can tell the Deputy that the route of the Wild Atlantic Way was developed with the assistance of consultants, the Paul Hogarth Company. A unified approach was taken in which regional steering groups were convened to inform route development. The steering groups included Fáilte Ireland, local authorities, local LEADER and development companies and other key agencies such as Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Western Development Commission and others as relevant to each particular region. The process involved an extensive study of the coast, a review of existing driving routes, the establishment of route selection criteria, an evaluation of various route options, the identification of the route spine and a comprehensive process of stakeholder, community and public consultation. In total, 366 feedback submissions were made containing 862 individual comments. Following this wide-ranging process, I launched the Wild Atlantic Way just over a year ago. It is already proving very popular and will be a great international success.

The Deputy should note that the Wild Atlantic Way is an international tourism proposition for the west coast of Ireland. The project was born out of the need to address the dramatic decline in international visitors to the west of Ireland over the last decade. The route itself is designed to bring scale and singularity to the tourism offering of the west of Ireland in terms of overseas promotion and marketing. The main objective of the Wild Atlantic Way project is to motivate more overseas visitors to visit the west of Ireland, to give them reasons to linger longer in terms of tourism experiences and to encourage them to engage with the landscape and communities along the route. It is about encouraging international visitors to choose the west of Ireland as a holiday destination. The Wild Atlantic Way initiative was never intended to be defined by the extent of Ireland's Atlantic coast, but was broadly to follow the routing of the Malin to Mizen geography and those west coast counties that share a common unifying tourism proposition. As a visitor experience, the Wild Atlantic Way is about experiencing where the land meets the sea and how the sea has shaped and influenced what happens on the land. As the design of the route was about wildness, the overarching principles of the route require a focus on the wild Atlantic. The route is designed to hug the coast wherever possible and avoids dilution of the concept by straying inland.

Given our limited resources, it was not possible to do everything at once. As the Wild Atlantic Way gained momentum, however, we were able to look at tourism propositions that would match the tourism assets in the south and east of the country. What we provide must be distinctive and always match what customers are seeking. Our research has informed us that we need to highlight better the tourism assets we have to match the interests and requirements of the consumers identified in our most promising market segments. For that reason, the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and I launched this week a new brand proposition that groups the cultural and heritage tourism assets and experiences of Ireland's east and south into a new tourism experience via a network of routes, trails and journeys. Ireland's Ancient East is a customer-oriented tourism initiative for the south, east and midlands majoring on the abundance of cultural and heritage assets to be found in these areas. All of these areas share a common richness in their histories such as Viking Waterford, medieval Kilkenny and the Boyne Valley.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comments and I take his point on positivity not negativity regarding the product announced yesterday. The case I have been making to officials in the past few weeks revolves in large part around the future of Waterford Airport. I spent the last four years bending the ears of officials and politicians with regard to the future of Waterford Airport and continuing its funding until we resecured the London air route. That worked. We managed to keep the funding going long enough for the board to find an airline. We had a couple of close shaves, but we now have a carrier and bookings are very good according to the airport managers I met last week. Over the years, the State has invested tens of millions of euro into the airport through operational and capital funding. Improvements were made to the road to the airport which alone cost in the region of €10 million. It is now critical for the Government to consider the airport's future and not simply to say "Job done". It must now start to connect projects like the Wild Atlantic Way with the airport, which is a piece of infrastructure in which the State has invested heavily and which is critical to our regional economic recovery.

For years, the Government has been repeating that Waterford Airport must become self-sustaining. Extending the Wild Atlantic Way to the east of Waterford is how that can be helped to happen.

I will repeat what I said. We want the opportunity to make this presentation, notwithstanding everything announced yesterday, and hope we will be given it.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will respond to the Deputy in a very positive manner. I will set up that opportunity for him and arrange a meeting with Fáilte Ireland. I will revert to him tomorrow with a date and a time and will attend the meeting. He will have the opportunity to make the presentation to Fáilte Ireland. I see nothing wrong with this.

The Deputy mentioned Waterford Airport and I agree with him. The Government has been pro-tourism and proactive in developing it. We got rid of the travel tax which went from 3% to 0%. The VAT rate was reduced from 13.5% to 9%. We sometimes forget that more than 200,000 people are employed in the industry, in respect of which we announced a new strategy recently. We had 7.5 million visits to the country last year, which brought in €3.5 billion in revenue. We want to bring these figures up to 10 million visits and €5 billion in revenue and increase the number employed in the sector. Sometimes because it is our own industry, an industry within the country, it does not get the credit it deserves for the number of jobs created. Some 16,000 jobs were created last year and many more could be created. Let me give a very simple example. There are three bicycle operators that employ more than 40 people along the Great Western Greenway. Last Tuesday there was not a bike to be had in the area. People were coming to the area, cycling and enjoying their stay. The Wild Atlantic Way has been a tremendous success and a great initiative. More international buyers are coming this year and more people are talking about it. It is going to be another great year in tourism. The figures look good, as does the sentiment.

I have no doubt that what was announced yesterday will be every bit as good, but the communities in the area will have to buy into it, like communities bought into the Wild Atlantic Way in the west, including Donegal, Cork and everywhere else. It is like The Gathering. Communities bought into it, which is why it was a success.

Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent)
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As in the case of the bicycles, there is no time left. The Minister of State was just on the button.