Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge his flair, commitment and great dedication to the job, and, indeed, his work in Kerry to keep sustainable communities going, and through that to keep the tourism product going in his own area.

I will start with a number of important local issues. I draw his attention to the refurbishment that is proceeding on Bailieborough courthouse as an important tourism exercise. Last night, we had the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, down in the newly-refurbished part of the hall. Bailieborough Development Association wants to develop the Bridewell, a former prison in the town, into an excellent venue to promote tourism in the area, which will form the start point of a town heritage trail. We envisage linking with other towns to provide an all-day tourism experience, starting in Bailieborough courthouse and the Bridewell and taking the heritage trail around the historically significant castle lake, moving on to Virginia to visit the Ramor lake and the Deerpark Forest and finishing in Ballyjamesduff Museum. That could help to achieve the Minister of State's regionalisation goals. An application to the rural regeneration fund has been made to the Minister for Rural and Community Development and I seek the Minister of State's support for this project.

The Minister of State has visited another project in my region - the Boyne Valley to Lakelands County greenway. This is a project of great importance and there are further applications with the Minister for Rural and Community Development. I also appeal to Minister of State for his support for this project.

Recently, Virginia International Logistics, the coal transport company in Virginia, converted a fleet of its lorries to the use of compressed natural gas, CNG, and has used them on the Continent. Tour bus operators should be encouraged and supported in practical ways to move to the use of CNGs, which is environmentally friendly and supports sustainable tourism.

Trails and heritage tourism are also important in this regard. There are important figures in every county . In Cavan, we have Bishop Bedell, a Church of Ireland bishop, who translated

the Bible into the Irish language, which the Minister of State, as a particularly scholarly individual himself, will be aware of. There is potential to develop a heritage weekend around the bishop. Similarly, Arthur Griffith represented east Cavan, and this presents possibilities. That is the way to regionalise tourism. These projects have capacity which I would commend to the Minister of State.

He pointed out that there was a visitor spend of €5 billion in 2018 and that the entire tourism sector was worth €9.4 billion to the economy. The sector provides 260,000 jobs, and 11% of total employment. It is an extraordinarily important business for us, which needs continued support and needs to be sustainable. Regionalising tourism is of great importance. I come from a Border county, which has had the threat of a hard Brexit looming over it for some time. Thankfully, that may pass. Even a soft Brexit will challenge the economy in the area with currency fluctuations having implications for visitors from the UK. I appeal to the Minister of State to do everything he can to regionalise and support tourism along the Border in counties Cavan and Monaghan, and the great potential we have. Visitors tend, in the main, to go to Dublin, the south west, and the north west and Donegal. It is important to get them inland to the Cavan and Monaghan area. Cavan is the lakeland county and has tremendous angling and amenities to recommend it from a tourism point of view, including nature trails, heritage centres, and cycling facilities. It has great potential.

I appeal to the Minister of State to take particular initiatives to help the area and to get tourism into the regions.To start, the Minister of State could support the Bridewell project in Bailieborough and the Boyne Valley to Lakelands County greenway. They would be two very practical starts, but there are many more things that could be done. I hope they will be done. I am anxious that we get people into the regions and that we sustain the communities in those areas. Even in the face of a soft Brexit we will need support and tourism is one real way to do it.