Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and thank him for coming to the House to take this matter. I did not think in the last Dáil that I would be in the Seanad speaking to him about a model railway but I will explain why it is very important.

Fortunately, Malahide has seen substantial investment in Malahide Demesne and Malahide Castle over the past number of years. In January 2009, a €10 million investment in Malahide Castle was announced to develop the craft courtyard, open up the castle and to do what the Minister of State and his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, have been speaking about in regard to improving our tourism product and accessibility. Malahide Castle and Demesne is a fantastic facility. I met the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, on 3 February when he was turning the sod which did not grate with me, even though we announced the investment back in January 2009. I was glad to see him there as it will create 80 jobs with the anchor tenant being Avoca Handweavers.

Leaving that aside, I will outline for the Minister of State the geography of the area. He will visit Malahide Cricket Club, of which I am a member, the week after next. It was glad to secure €500,000 to create an international one day ground in Malahide. Right opposite where the Minister of State will visit the week after next is the Casino House which is a very important architectural building at the entrance to Malahide. It is a thatched building which, unfortunately, has fallen into some disrepair. It is managed by NAMA.

A very generous individual, the late Micheál Gaffney, bequeathed €1.5 million in a trust to secure the Casino House on the basis that the Fry model railway, the largest model railway in Ireland, is returned to its rightful place in Malahide. That would do two things. First, it would return the model railway to what was its home for years and, second and most important, it would protect a very important building in Malahide which is currently vacant, and I think the Minister of State would agree with me on that given his portfolio. We saw what happened in Belcamp College. It was stripped bare thus destroying a €250,000 building. We have agreed contracts with NAMA of €600,000 and have ample money - €1.5 million - to purchase the building and to restore the 1.9 acres around it as well as the walled gardens to their former glory. We have full planning permission to add on a coffee shop which I reckon would create six to eight jobs adjacent to Malahide train station.

What is crazy about all of this? One would think that if one was offered €1.5 million, we could do all of this without requiring any money from the Minister of State's Department and that everything would be great. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Bus Éireann plans to spend €1 million doing up the Eblana Theatre in Busáras and to locate the largest model railway in the country in a bus station in the middle of Dublin. The irony of that is not lost in that Bus Éireann is there to run buses and certainly not to run model railways.

I served with the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, in Fingal County Council and we know each other very well. I advised him of this on 3 February. I do not want to see this opportunity being lost. It would be a terrible waste of taxpayers' money for Bus Éireann to spend any money locating this exhibition in Busáras. If that happens, we will lose the €1.5 million bequeathed, we will not be able to purchase the Casino House and we will not be able to bring the Fry model railway back to Malahide and create six or eight jobs. There is unbelievable community support for this in Malahide and in the surrounding areas. There is unbelievable community support for this, both in Malahide and the surrounding areas, and within Fingal County Council. Two of colleagues from the council, Councillors Darragh Butler and Eoghan O'Brien, have raised this matter in the council which is fully supportive. We want this to happen and I hope the Minister of State can help us achieve it. If he has a spare two minutes when he is visiting Malahide cricket club the week after next I will bring him across the road and show him how fantastic this facility could be.