Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----but they are areas on which we need to work. They are being neglected, and we are not promoting them. We need to work with every local authority to promote our areas. Carlow, Laois and other areas are badly affected.

Imposing a fine is not good enough. In Carlow town, we have the most beautiful town park in the country. Boats moor there in the summer, which is great for us. People come to visit the town but if we start to impose fines on them, we will lose those tourists. There might be a view that it is all the one in the sense that money might be gained for, say, the Department or whatever but we will lose out in the long term in areas such as my county, neighbouring counties and others throughout the country. If we promote an area we will attract more tourism, our heritage will benefit and we will learn more. That is what we need to consider for the future.