Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak about a tourism issue as well. Easter has just passed and we are heading into the 2016 commemorations. I have mentioned on more than one occasion that we have a gem in north Leitrim in the form of Seán Mac Diarmada's house. I acknowledge that €150,000 was provided for a car park at the house by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and €30,000 has been spent by the Office of Public Works on a new thatched roof. The building is in a remote rural area of north Leitrim, close to Kiltyclogher, and the road to the house is in very poor condition. A little more money should be provided to improve the road, as people are coming to visit the house and there are buses and cars using the route. It is a narrow road in a rural area so it should be improved and have lay-bys added to it. It will of course help the tourism industry in the area. The successful Wild Atlantic Way has just been mentioned. People come from that route to Kiltyclogher and Glenfarne just to see that house, which is close to the Ballroom of Romance, Lissadell House and Hazelwood House. They are in the area and will provide benefit to the rural economy. A little more money would make a significant contribution.

I join colleagues in their call for councillors to be remunerated in a proper way. After the last local elections we lost many councillors around the country, and their numbers are now much smaller; as a result, their workload is much greater. As my colleague Senator Paul Coghlan has stated, they are working seven days a week. We depend on them to liaise with people and they also work through local Deputies. It is important that they be looked after in a proper way. I also congratulate Mr. Seán Finan, who was elected president of Macra na Feirme last week, and I look forward to his taking office in May.