Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1134. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost-benefit analysis or business case appraisal he has undertaken prior to the announcement of €100 million for the Wild Atlantic Way; the conclusions and recommendations of these; if he will provide an indicative list of the type of projects that he and Fáilte Ireland expect to be funded by this allocation; the timeframe in this regard; and the boost in tourism numbers, revenues and employment he expects from this funding allocation. [10032/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Programme for Government provides that the Government will seek to set aside €100 million in additional capital funding to take the Wild Atlantic Way to the next level, including an Atlantic Blueway route, and the Ireland Way, and to invest further in developing a nationwide Greenway network. As part of this additional funding, the Government also proposes to double the funding available for the Rural Walks Scheme from €2 million to €4 million to increase the number of walks covered from 40 to 80.

The Programme for Government recognises the achievement of the Wild Atlantic Way and other tourism initiatives in revitalising tourism and demonstrates the Government's commitment to achieving the tourism policy goals set for 2025. These include increasing revenue from overseas visitors to €5 billion (net of inflation), growing employment in the tourism and hospitality sector to 250,000 and increasing the number of overseas visits to Ireland to 10 million per year.

Public expenditure on tourism initiatives is undertaken by the tourism agencies, i.e. Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland in accordance with public financial procedures. Cost benefit analyses, business cases, and project plans would tend to be undertaken on a project by project basis, rather than at the level of a Programme for Government.