Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar. He is abroad on official business.

I will explain the position with regard to the future of Thoor Ballylee after hearing from Senators Higgins and Healy Eames of the significant progress that has been made to date towards reopening W. B. Yeats's former home as a cultural and educational centre. I cycled by the Yeats Tower ten days ago. One cannot but acknowledge the beauty and historical significance of this building. It is the former holiday home of W. B. Yeats. He purchased the property in 1916. It is only a few miles from Coole Park, the home of his lifelong patron and friend, Lady Augusta Gregory. The location and history of the tower intrigued W. B. Yeats and he is reputed to have written some of his greatest poetry there, including Sailing to Byzantium and Coole Park, 1929, which we recall from our leaving certificate. For some of us, unfortunately, that was quite a long time ago.

The tower house was given by Michael Yeats, his son, to Ireland West Tourism and it transferred to Fáilte Ireland in 2006, when the regional tourism authority was amalgamated with Fáilte Ireland.

By way of background I would like to explain that Ireland West was among a number of regional tourism authorities that were amalgamated with Fáilte Ireland at the time. It is also important that the Senators are aware that when Fáilte Ireland took over the regional tourism authorities, it also took on the operation of an extensive network of tourist information offices. The management, staffing, opening hours and locations of these offices are administrative and operational matters for Fáilte Ireland and its management.

I understand from both Senators that they see the tower as playing a far more significant role than simply a tourist information office. Given the pressures on the public finances and in response to changes in the needs of tourists, Fáilte Ireland, like many other State agencies, continues to reconfigure its service delivery, reshape its services and prioritise the locations where tourist information offices are located. As part of that, Fáilte Ireland has worked in partnership with local communities, where possible, to provide tourist information by local groups and business. During 2011 and 2012, Fáilte Ireland established a good track record in that regard when co-operation with local communities ensured many tourist information offices remained open which might otherwise have closed.

Fáilte Ireland has outsourced the provision of smaller tourist information offices. To date, approximately 40% of them have been taken over by local authorities, chambers of commerce and community groups. I am aware a similar initiative is under way. Perhaps it will re-open a tourist information office at the square in Gort which might tie in with the re-opening and redevelopment of Thoor Ballylee. Fáilte Ireland does not operate tourism attractions per se. Where it has inherited them, it has disposed of its interest at an appropriate stage.

With regard to the specific situation at Thoor Ballylee, Senators will be aware that the area was badly affected by flooding in 2009. The tower house was extensively damaged by the flooding and has been closed ever since. In 2012, Fáilte Ireland spent €200,000 on weather proofing the building and protecting its fabric. The building is not fit for occupation, and further work will be required if it is to open again. It would not be value for money were Fáilte Ireland to invest further in the tower house. The number of visitors who sought tourism information when the tower house was open was too small to justify spending scarce resources on re-opening the building as a tourist information office. Therefore, it was clear to the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, that Thoor Ballylee would not be used by Fáilte Ireland. He has explored other possible uses, as outlined by both Senators, that are outside the remit of his Department and its agencies. The Senators suggested that it might serve as a cultural and heritage centre. He raised that possibility with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and he is considering the matter.

I would be very interested in, and look forward to, hearing updated suggestions by the Senators on the best possible course of action. I agree with both of them when they suggested that we adopt a collaborative approach using a number of different agencies. We must also collaborate deeply with the community to ensure the re-opening occurs. I shall commit my resources, time and efforts to assist them in that regard.