Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if consideration is being given to the development of new tourism amenities on a cross-Border basis in areas such as Cavan and Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24358/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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One of my Department's strategic goals is to promote increased North-South co-operation in tourism, working with the Northern Ireland Executive and through the North South Ministerial Council and the work of Tourism Ireland.

In December 2022, the Government made an allocation of €7.6 million from the Shared Island Fund for a brand collaboration project to be delivered by Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland to better connect the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route in the north west and northern coast regions. This work is being progressed by the three agencies on a partnership basis.

Separately, I am aware that border region local authorities - including Cavan and Monaghan County Councils - operate long-standing and very positive cooperation with their counterparts in Northern Ireland and are working with relevant tourism agencies to develop the sustainable tourism and heritage potential of cross-border sites.

Complementing this, in September 2022, the Government’s Shared Island Local Authority Development funding scheme, which is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, supported a number of feasibility assessments by local authorities, on potential cross-border projects which include a tourism dimension. Fáilte Ireland is also supporting the development of the Shannon Pot Discovery Centre and enhancement of the Cavan Burren Park, for example, as part of the cross-Border Marble Arch UNESCO Geopark.

I understand that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Shared Island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach are engaging at present with the local authority partners on these feasibility reports to discuss how local authorities could take agreed projects forward to a further stage of development on a collaborative cross-border basis.