Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the mid Shannon tourism investment scheme; his views on the submission to him by a county council (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28850/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The areas included in the Mid-Shannon Tourism Infrastructure Investment Scheme are outlined in Schedule 8B of Section 29 of the 2007 Finance Act and include all of the District Electoral Divisions that are wholly or partly within a 12 kilometre band on either side of the mid section of the Shannon.

This is a pilot scheme, the operation of which will be carefully monitored and assessed and will be for a limited period only. The reason for selecting the mid-Shannon region is that from a tourism perspective, the inner core of the country remains relatively underdeveloped. Its tourism intensity is low and it has lagged behind recent growth in tourism in Ireland which has been predominately in Dublin and certain coastal counties. This scheme aims to help redress this regional imbalance and for this reason it is important that the geographical scope of the scheme should be confined to this limited area.