Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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515. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will address a matter regarding a unit (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20513/19]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Unit the Deputy refers to was originally an information point for the Park. The National Park is now served by a world- class visitor centre at Killarney House. This presents a gateway experience to Killarney National Park. It seeks to educate and encourage exploration and participation creating a link between the tangible and intangible heritage of the Park. Inhabiting 16 rooms within Killarney House, it is designed to offer visitors a multitude of experiences, creating an ebb and flow through the spaces so that every room offers something to explore. Creative highlights include a number of atmospheric and immersive spaces including an abstract representation of the different woodlands in the park, a multiscreen projection mapped film exploring the importance of water and a corridor of Rhododendron illustrating the threat to local flora.

With such an amenity available it is not therefore intended to re-open the Unit as an information point.

Consideration could be given in the future to re-purposing the Unit subject to a change of use application being made under the Planning and Development Acts. It would, however, require capital funding being re-directed from elsewhere in the Park and is therefore not an immediate priority.