Tourism: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10 ============================================================ George Lawlor (LAB), Wexford -----but it is a wonderful tourism addition and could be an embassy for our tourism industry. We also need to look to exploit, in a sustainable way, what is available on our doorstep, for example, our seas and rivers. It is estimated that between 8 million and ten million people participate in sea angling across Europe every year, generating an economic impact of between €8 billion and €10 billion. France has recorded 1.4 million recreational anglers. England and Wales show that, historically, participation reaches over 4.2 million, split between course, game and sea angling. Wexford hosted the world and European shore angling competitions in the recent past and will do so again, no doubt, in the future because of our dual coastline. It is a perfect area for angling, depending on the direction of the wind, yet we really do not pursue the opportunities that are clear in this sector, and it is something we really should be looking at. The attractions we see across the country are not just points on a map; they are economic lifelines. They sustain jobs in hotels, cafés, bed and breakfast accommodation, restaurants, taxis, shops and activity providers. They support farmers who supply local produce. They keep our towns vibrant and our villages open. In Wexford, tourism is not an optional extra; it is the cornerstone of our prosperity. Local authorities are expected to promote tourism, develop local strategies, support festivals, maintain public amenities and market their region, but they are expected to do all this with budgets that are wholly inadequate for the scale of the task. We cannot keep asking local authorities to deliver world-class tourism outcomes on shoestring budgets. It is unrealistic, it is unfair and it is holding back the potential of counties such as Wexford. If we want tourism to flourish, we must invest in the people and institutions that make it happen. Local authorities need substantial, multi-year, ring-fenced funding for tourism promotion, not ad hoc grants, once-off allocations or competitive schemes that pit counties against one another. What they need is predictable, strategic investment that allows them to plan, innovate and build long-term capacity. Let us imagine what Wexford County Council and all other local authorities could achieve with a properly funded tourism promotion department. We could expand international marketing campaigns. We could develop new and more greenways, blueways and heritage trails. We could support more festivals, and not just the flagship ones but the smaller, community-led events that give towns their identity. We can really do so much more with this product. --- 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/2026-06-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-10