Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I know. This is another thing one does not find in Ireland. I guarantee one could search every butcher shop in this town and not find a bit of mutton. Nobody remembers what it is anymore.

We can all talk about the big issues, but I want to concentrate on simple, practical things. There are some things that we are not doing that we could and need to do. In fairness, successive Governments have tried to incorporate infrastructural development in Finance Bills to build hotels, of which there is a shortage in Ireland. There is no hotel in Belmullet and I do not know if there is one on the River Nore, to pick just two areas from which colleagues that are present in the House come. These are beautiful areas. The sweep of the River Nore and the surrounding area is gorgeous but how many people have seen it? How many people can afford to spend time walking around the gardens at Woodstock, counting the trees and looking at the alleys of various trees from different parts of Europe? These are beautiful places, but they are not attracting people.

My colleague from County Clare, Senator Daly, spoke earlier in the debate. People talk about the beauty of west Clare, of which we are all aware, but why do we not develop that area? Is there a village in Ireland as beautiful as Mountshannon or a place as beautiful as Lough Derg? Is there a sweep of the river or the road as nice as that from Killaloe to the far side of Nenagh, the high road over the lake? These are beautiful places.