Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is fantastic news. I will go from here to spread the Minister of State's good news to all the horticultural magazines and publications in the country. It is a wonderful organisation and something of which we can be extremely proud. I am delighted to see that this phased programme is continuing and that money is in place. Clearly, tenders and planning issues must be addressed. I also want to flag the fact that this is a free facility. There is no charge to go into the National Botanic Gardens. The politician I meet most there is Bertie Ahern. To be fair, I acknowledge that it was his constituency. As the Minister of State rightly noted, it feeds into the community. If you are doing nothing on a Sunday afternoon, you are guaranteed to meet Bertie Ahern there. He is hugely proud of it as a former Deputy for the locality.

I thank the Minister of State. This is exceptional. Let us be mindful of how we can promote these gardens. I visit botanic gardens all over the world. It is one of my great interests. The gardens in Kew, Edinburgh and Dublin are three of the best botanic gardens in the world and we should be proud of them. There is a huge garden and horticultural industry in this country. International tourists come to this country to look at these gardens. It is a gem, one of the many gems in the OPW portfolio. I wish the Minister of State well and thank him for his very comprehensive and positive answer. This is really good news and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House.