Business Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Rose Conway-Walsh (SF), Mayo

The Minister of State may thank the protestors for anything that has been put in place. The proposals I presented to the Minister of State earlier would encourage greater uptake of the grants and secure the futures of many SMEs, but he has refused to take those on board. I want to talk about it in the context of tourism. Tourism is the heartbeat of many Irish communities, especially in rural communities that depend on visitors to sustain local economies and jobs. As a rural TD, I can tell the Minister of State that public transport, as he will know, is scarce. Tourists rely on private bus operators to bring them to towns along the Wild Atlantic Way. For example, hospitality providers are worried that spiralling fuel costs will make these trips unviable for operators or that they will become so expensive that tourists simply will not come. Higher fares mean fewer visitors, and fewer visitors mean fewer jobs. If the routes are cut, rural Ireland pays the price. The Government should be doing all it can to ensure this will not materialise.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28