Financial allocations and resources are reviewed each year in the context of the preparation of business plans and the annual of estimates for my Department. Within Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department, the annual financial allocations are made on a region by region, rather than a park by park basis. Staff requirements are continually under review and I am pleased to say that, following one such review, 38 additional conservation rangers were recruited in recent months by my Department to serve throughout the country. External reviews are often carried out by my Department in regard to proposals involving significant expenditure on particular projects in national parks. The following are some recent illustrations of such reviews.
RPS Cairns consultants carried out a review in 1997 of visitor facilities at Muckross House in Killarney National Park which recommended an expansion of visitor facilities at Muckross House to cope with the expanding number of visitors to the national park. I accepted the recommendation to expand the visitor facilities and allocated more than £2.5 million Exchequer funding to the development of the walled garden complex which is being co-financed by the trustees of Muckross House in the amount of £750,000. It must be appreciated that this level of investment relates to a site visited by more than 286,000 visitors who purchased tickets and a greater number who availed of the free-to-visitor facilities.
O'Muire Smyth reported in 1996 on the development of a national park in north west Mayo and recommended the development of visitor facilities there. Under the recently published national development plan I have allocated £3 million Exchequer funding for the development of a visitor centre at Ballycroy. In relation to the Wicklow Mountains National Park, Dúchas officials are currently working with Wicklow County Council and the Glendalough and District Development Association on a visitor management project for Glendalough. The project is being financed by the EU, Wicklow County Council and my Department. A comprehensive internal review of visitor facilities at Glenveagh National Park is being carried out at present.
Visitor facilities at all national parks are subject to ongoing review. In relation to the quality of presentation and visitor experience at visitor centres, Dúchas has commissioned market research on a biennial basis in the past. This research indicated high levels of satisfaction among visitors to Dúchas sites. In 1999 a more comprehensive survey of visitor attitudes to facilities and services at Dúchas sites was carried out. The results of this detailed research will be used to develop a more sophisticated system for evaluating the quality of visitor experiences at all Dúchas sites in future.
