James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps slots of three and a half and one and a half minutes but we will be as quick as we can.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to focus on the planned coastal and castle greenway from Sutton to Balbriggan in County Dublin. Many in this House will have heard me speak about a coastal greenway for Fingal for a long time because Fingal does not just have a wonderful coastline but castles and the additional benefit of a commuter rail service all along the way. Therefore, if cyclists get tired they can park their bikes and return to Dublin city via train.

An earlier speaker talked about cycleways. I wish to talk about home tourism. More than 1 million people live in the greater Dublin area. They could avail of the greenway, as it is a safe environment in which to cycle with one's family. It is difficult to find safe cycle areas for oneself and small children. We all are familiar with the famous saying that the family who prays together stays together. I wish to add that the family who plays together stays together. It is also critically important that we promote multigenerational family activities as it is good for communities and preserves the mental health and well-being of all concerned.

Fingal, Louth and Meath councils have lodged a joint application for a greenway that runs through Fingal to the site of the Battle of the Boyne and on to Newgrange. The greenway would be a fantastic offering. In addition, as many as 32 million people passed through Dublin Airport last year and very often they must wait a few hours for a connecting flight or whatever. This would be a wonderful tourism offering for them and it would do a huge amount for tourism. A greenway is sustainable because, as we know, the Westport greenway paid for itself within a year with cafés and eateries springing up along the way.We have a wealth of history, scenery and coast along this way and it would be a phenomenal and sustainable tourist attraction. The Minister of State should examine this. I asked the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, before to try to put a couple of hundred million euro into a fund for greenways throughout the country. This is the sort of tourism that has a very bright future because there is a huge cohort of 60 to 80 year olds throughout the western world who are healthy, wealthy, with time on their hands, and looking for things to do. One can only argue for a tourism offering that talks of food, cycling, music and craic as being a winner all the way down the line.

I can see huge benefit all down through these towns of Rush, Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan and Loughshinny, up to Malahide and Portmarnock. I hope the Minister of State will back the application to ensure that this happens.