Tourism Funding Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13 ============================================================ Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath I thank the Deputy for his very important question. In December, I launched the Government's new national tourism policy statement, A New Era for Irish Tourism. This sets out our clear vision to 2031 to have balanced product development. Since the move of tourism into my Department, I have reflected that SMEs are at the heart of the Department of enterprise. There are over 46,000 of them. We published the Department’s sectoral plan last week. We have €4.7 billion over the next five years, and €400 million is earmarked for tourism. I also want to enhance the quality and sustainability of our tourism offering, ensuring that Ireland remains a compelling destination for international visitors while supporting local communities and businesses. I should clarify that regional tourism promotion is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland, in collaboration with local authorities and other tourism stakeholders. Fáilte Ireland recognises the importance of ongoing capital investment in tourism infrastructure and attractions across the country and remains committed to supporting the sustainable development of tourism potential in all areas. I understand that the project being proposed would be a heritage centre that could also be used as a shared community facility. At present, Fáilte Ireland does not operate a capital grant scheme to support such a project. However, when suitable capital schemes are launched, they are open to eligible project promoters nationwide, subject to meeting all scheme criteria being met, including strategic alignment and value for money. I encourage the Deputy to liaise with Fáilte Ireland in relation to schemes that will come forward over the coming year. My colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has responsibility for the heritage sector. I have been informed that the Heritage Council, which comes under the remit of his Department, operates funding schemes that may be relevant to this project. Separately, Fáilte Ireland has commenced work on the Dublin coast destination and experience development plan. The plan is being developed in close collaboration with local authorities in the region and key agencies, tourism businesses and community stakeholders. Fáilte Ireland is actively promoting and developing marine and coastal tourism in Dublin Bay North through a range of strategic initiatives. A key element of this work is the Dublin coastal trail, launched in 2022, which provides a flagship framework to showcase Dublin's coastline from Skerries to Killiney. The original trail features 11 stops, including Howth, Raheny and Bull Island, with five additional stops planned at Clontarf-Dollymount, Dublin Port, Balbriggan, Donabate and Blackrock. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-13