James Heffernan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, to the House once again. It is great to have him back and I wish him continued success in his important work. As the Minister of State said in his address, this technical Bill aims to increase the amount of money that can be allocated to Fáilte Ireland to provide more state-of-the-art tourism facilities and a corresponding infrastructure. On the last occasion the Minister of State attended the House, I spoke about the unique tourism product we have in Ireland, which cannot be matched by any other country. As we live here, we may be inclined to take what we have for granted, thus not appreciate what lies outside our own front door. I lived abroad for a while and on returning home I began to appreciate exactly what kind of tourism product we have.

I am sure not many visitors to the country would forget the approach when arriving. I often recall the plane emerging from the clouds approaching Shannon Airport and seeing the fantastic patchwork landscape underneath. I have not seen that type of landscape in any other country I have travelled to, and I have travelled to a few.

Peru struck me in thinking about how proper tourism infrastructure can be a significant revenue generator for an economy. I do not want to upset any Peruvians that might be in the Visitors' Gallery - there might not be too many - but that country does not have much to offer except for its tourist product. What it has to offer is not a patch on what we have here. In the museum next door there are bog bodies and the Ardagh chalice, and one can go from there to the hills and lakes of Kerry, as was mentioned so eloquently by Senator O'Sullivan. The Burren is in Clare and there are writers and poets in Dublin, along with Glasnevin Cemetery and Croke Park. Donegal has Slieve League as mentioned in the speech, and Louth is the land of legends, as noted by Senator Brennan. There are certainly a couple of legends from Louth in this House.