Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

Access is very important. In the west we have Shannon Airport and a number of regional airports. There is a small regional airport in Galway and there is Knock International Airport which play their part in bringing people to the west. However, the reality is that the vast majority of visitors to this country come through Dublin Airport. It is important that people can get to and visit other parts of the country. Investment in roads certainly facilitates that but in tourism rail plays a huge part. It also plays an environmental part. I am delighted to note that from 29 March we will be able to get trains from Limerick to Galway because the first phase of the western rail corridor is to open. This is a massive development for tourism but one cannot take it out of context. People often look at such an outcome without using joined up thinking and think the actual cost of providing the service is X, it makes a profit and so on. I cite the case of the Isle of Man which decided its ferry service was not making a great amount of money. It brought in a private company which made sure the service made money because it cut back most of the services. The problem was that the tourism industry collapsed as a result.

One cannot look at these matters in isolation but must look at the overall service provided. The western rail corridor will provide a great benefit to tourism in the west. I have campaigned for the rail corridor to go to Shannon Airport. There must be a clear link-up with such places if it can be provided, whether by rail or bus service. The concept of a future rail corridor all the way to Derry is something we must consider. Again, that is something all parties locally in the west support and we must all do so.

We are in the middle of Seachtain na Gaeilge. There was a nice breakfast in the House today, hosted by Conradh na Gaeilge. I point out the importance of the Irish language to tourism, especially in Galway where it is significant. Recent figures show that the Irish language generates revenue of about €120 million to the Galway region. TG4 and Raidió na Gaeltachta play a huge part in this. Again, it is important that the entire Gaeltacht area is maintained and respected.