Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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419. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht regarding her support of connectivity and air access to the whole island, if she will please provide an account of the number of individual services (routes) that have been supported through the cooperative marketing fund per year since 2014, detailing which airport, State owned and otherwise, those services landed into; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43240/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Government acknowledges the value of aviation in supporting international connectivity, economic development and tourism via airports. As an island economy, it is essential that tourism is enabled by the supply of convenient, direct and competitive access.

It is a policy priority of my Department to put an increased focus on regional growth and season extension, delivering greater visitor dispersal throughout the country, with a more even spread of demand across the year.

Tourism Ireland promotes regional air and sea access to Ireland in overseas tourism markets through initiatives such as the Regional Cooperative Market Access Scheme, which seeks to encourage new access and maximise the potential of existing services to the regions, including with matched funding from airlines, sea carriers, airports, ports and regional tourism stakeholders including Local Authorities.

The delivery of the Regional Cooperative Market Access Scheme is an operational matter for Tourism Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to Tourism Ireland for direct reply. Please contact my private office if you have not received a reply within ten working days.