Vol. 890 No. 1
6. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the efforts his Department is making to address the challenges being faced by the road haulage industry here, particularly those relating to commercial vehicle road tax and the introduction of the lorry road user levy in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31804/15]
My question to the Minister relates to the road haulage system situation. The road haulage industry in Ireland is in a perilous situation. Road tax for the road haulage industry is five times more expensive here than it is in Northern Ireland and the introduction of the new levy of €10 per day in Northern Ireland and the UK has had a terrible impact. The Minister's Department is well aware of this fact. The levy has been introduced for more than a year yet nothing has been done to help this industry. As a result, hauliers and businesspeople are transferring their operations to the UK and Northern Ireland, and who would blame them? They are at the pin of their collars trying to survive, maintain jobs and provide a high-quality service. They cannot do this when we have an unfair and unlevel playing field.
I thank Deputy McGrath. The road haulage industry suffered during the recession, particularly due to the downturn in the construction sector. The Government recognised the challenges facing the sector and announced the fuel duty rebate for hauliers in 2012, which could result in savings of up to €70 million per annum for the haulage sector. The number of road haulage vehicles in Ireland has been steadily increasing since 2013 and now stands at 16,799. This is an increase of more than 2,000 vehicles since 2012. Continued economic recovery will see this figure continue to increase.
In recognition of the challenges facing the haulage sector, the Minister for Finance committed in November 2014 to reducing the motor tax rates for heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, of 12 tonnes or more in the approaching budget, with a tapering of the reduction for vehicles below a certain level. An interdepartmental group has carried out a review of the current commercial motor tax regime and consulted with hauliers and other stakeholders. The report is being submitted to me, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government for joint consideration. Once agreement is reached, the Minister for Finance will decide on the best way to respond to the needs described by Deputy McGrath.
The UK HGV road user levy was introduced in 2014. The Government lobbied actively against the application of the charge to Northern Ireland, in co-operation, I must say, with Stormont Ministers. Unfortunately, the UK Minister for Transport chose to give only very minor exemptions to Northern Ireland from the road user charge. My officials are monitoring the impact of the road user charge on cross-Border traffic.
We can have the interdepartmental reports and investigations and I welcome them, but it is blatantly obvious that there is not a level playing field. We will have to do something about road tax and we will have to go back more robustly to the Northern Ireland authorities and Westminster to deal with this new levy. There is a channel, or a passage, from Donegal and there could be an exemption for it. Other countries have been able to get exemptions. A Prime Minister of a particular country this morning stated that he was not going to implement a European decision made yesterday. Why do we have to be the good boys and implement everything?
The road haulage industry is not viable for hauliers. By way of comparison, road tax costs €3,500 on average for a vehicle per year. It is only £640 sterling in Northern Ireland and England. That is not a level playing field. The Minister is saying the number of vehicles has increased. I welcome that fact but we must recognise the effort, employment and business initiatives of private hauliers and the sheer skill they have put into developing their businesses. This levy undermines them totally and the Minister knows it. Unless the report is finalised and taken seriously, it will be no good resting on a shelf. We need action here and we need action on the road tax as well.
That action has already happened.
Show me the money.
I am absolutely aware of the needs of the road haulage sector. There are a few groups and sectors that I have met more regularly since I came into office because I believe, and I have said this to them, the work they do provides the backbone to how much our economy develops.
Support them then.
Indeed, Deputy, we have supported them. This is why we have brought in the fuel rebate and why I have made changes elsewhere in the implementation of law to look to recognise their needs. I assure the Deputy that a very complicated piece of work on the taxation of their sector is now approaching finalisation. The sector and its representatives have been actively involved in that work through their presence on a stakeholder group, and that is one report I am confident will not be gathering dust.
I welcome that statement. It is positive and I hope to see it in the budget in the coming weeks. I am sure road hauliers will be celebrating. They will probably do a drive-through just to celebrate such good news but seeing is believing and actions speak louder than words. I will hold the Minister to his statement and I am sure the hauliers will as well. This issue has to be dealt with as it is a vital industry, as acknowledged by the Minister. It provides vital employment and is vital for our exports as well.
Regardless of what change we make to it, I am not sure the sector will be celebrating, given the kind of challenges it has faced.
According to the Minister anyway, like Santa Claus.
I have given a commitment to the sector, to which I have referred publicly and which I am happy to reaffirm. Due to changes which the United Kingdom has made in how it taxes that sector - it has a right to tax how it wants-----
So have we.
Yes, we do, and that is why we brought in the fuel rebate in recognition of an issue they had then.
It is not enough.
The UK made a change to how it wants to tax this sector. The Minister for Finance has said that, dependent on the money available to us, over time, we will look to address the sector to try to help its efforts to be more competitive. The sector has been involved in work that we have done in that area. While no decisions have yet been made in the budget, that work is under way. I am hopeful we will be able to respond to the challenges which the sector is facing. I welcome, as I think does the Deputy, the fact the sector now has almost 2,000 more vehicles on the road than it did in 2013. That is a tribute to the sector and a recognition of what is taking place in our economy.
7. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the upgrading of the N7; when works will be scheduled to commence; the expected completion time for this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31805/15]
The value for money for this three-stage project far outweighs any other project on the road transport programme. I sincerely hope that when the Minister announces something, this will be part of it. As far as I am concerned, the key part of it, a link from the M4 across to the N7, is the Sallins bypass. Huge volumes of traffic are going through this small village. All the towns along the route have been bypassed except for Sallins. This is probably the third part of the whole key. I welcome the Minister's response.
As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. The assessment and prioritisation of individual national road projects within its overall capital budget is also a matter for TII.
Due to the national financial position, there have been very large reductions in expenditure on roads in recent years. Funding in 2008 was €2.3 billion while funding this year is around €764 million for the national, regional and local road network. The reality is that available funds have fallen well short of the amount of work that could be undertaken.
The Government will publish its new capital plan shortly. This plan will take into account the maintenance and strengthening needs of our road network to ensure it is fit for purpose. I am well aware of the importance of the project to which the Deputy has referred and the contribution it could and would make to economic development in his community and his county, as well as the scale of potential job creation, as it would have a very significant knock-on effect elsewhere. Those points and the Deputy's support for the project are well recognised in the work I am doing at the moment.
I understand where the Minister is coming from. I reiterate that it is a key bottleneck in the whole infrastructure. Since the upgrading of the Newlands Cross flyover we have seen increased traffic through the small villages of Kill and Johnstown as a result of that bottleneck. We see the potential for expansion at the millennium business park. There is already talk of a new application being made for 50,000 sq. ft. of office space if that interchange can be achieved.
The Sallins bypass is also crucial for that small village, which has a constant flow of traffic coming from the M4 to the N7, trying to bypass the M50 which is almost at capacity at peak times during the day. I really appreciate the Minister's support.
As the Deputy knows, I am not in a position to confirm or announce what will be in the plan or whether all or some of what he refers to will be included. I have to get Government support and agreement as to what that project will be and I am working on that at the moment. I reiterate that I am very much aware of the need for the projects to which he is referring. The Deputy has raised the matter with me continually over the past year and a half. I am particularly aware, because I see it myself, that although it has made a great difference in travel time for people coming off and onto the M50 and is a really important project, since the Newlands Cross flyover has been opened, it has had a displacement effect on other communities. There is also potential for further jobs in the areas to which the Deputy has referred. I take on board the points he makes and I am doing my best to respond to this and, indeed, to other projects.
To make one last point, the planning permission has been granted, all the ducks are in a row, but there is a notice for treaty that could be running out and I would be concerned about that. I exhort the Minister to put as much pressure as he can on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, to include this.
I am well exhorted in respect of this project. I am aware of all the points the Deputy has made. I have outlined the challenges I face. We have a capital budget that has rapidly decreased for reasons with which we are all familiar. I am working very closely with the Minister, Deputy Howlin, and have been doing so for nearly a year, on how we can respond to the challenges we face.
I am very much aware of the fact that as we see the economy recovering, the infrastructure we have in place must be developed to support growth. We must ensure growth takes place in a way that is both economically and socially sustainable. We need to enable communities to make journeys safely, in a reasonable time and in such a way that the kinds of towns to which the Deputy referred do not find huge quantities of traffic being diverted into them because of other projects that have taken place.
8. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of soldiers of the United States of America who have passed through Shannon Airport to date in 2015, including the monthly breakdown; the number of requests his Department received in 2015 from civilian aircraft to land at Shannon Airport or pass through Irish airspace while carrying munitions; the number of permits issued for both; the number of requests that were rejected; the reason for rejecting the requests for which permits were not granted; if he will provide the breakdown of the countries from which the requests were made and to which the permits were granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31809/15]
This question concerns requests that the Minister's Department has handled on transiting soldiers and munitions on civilian aircraft through and over Shannon this year. Airport workers' evidence, given in open court during my and Deputy Wallace's case, made it clear that the conditions which the Minister's Department says are in place, ensuring munitions are held in an inaccessible position, are consistently breached. What were the numbers for this year and what checks and balance has his Department put in place in that regard?
The number of US troops who have passed through Shannon Airport to date in 2015 is 39,613. The number of requests my Department received up to the end of August 2015 from civilian aircraft to land at Shannon Airport or pass through Irish airspace while carrying munitions was 566. Some 188 permits were issued for aircraft to land at Shannon, five were issued for aircraft landing at Dublin, and 345 permits were issued for overflights. Some 28 requests were refused, all on the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Of the total 566 requests received in this period, one request came from an Irish airline, six requests came from a UK airline, five from a Turkish airline and the remainder came from US airlines. I have the tabular information in respect of all this which I will supply to the Deputy in written format or, if she wishes, I can supply it to her during this session of questions.
We will obviously digest that information. It follows on from the multiple pages received by Shannonwatch concerning permits sought for 2014. Based on the evidence the Minister has given us today, if anything the number of those requests has increased. In the main they come from the US.
Has the Minister any comments or concerns regarding the types of material that were transited last year? For example, between the USA and Afghanistan, 190 tonnes of ammunition and bullets passed over and through Shannon, probably destined for the Afghan army.
As Members are aware from Iraq, it often ends up in the hands of the opponents, in this case the Taliban and ISIS. Based on the information the Minister has provided today and in the aforementioned freedom of information request, Ireland now is complicit in activities that are giving rise to the crisis talks in the European Union today with the numbers of refugees and so on. The Minister told Members previously that the requests must be verified by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 48 hours in advance. I now am asking whether the Minister can tell Members if this happens in all cases. Where is the written report kept for those requests, including when those requests are not granted, which obviously is in a very small number of cases?
On the Deputy's point regarding the 48-hour time period, I cannot give her an answer now but I will find that information and share it with her. I have done my best to answer all the different questions the Deputy has put me and have given her figures on them. In addition, I have available the monthly figures for this year in respect of the number of US troops who are transiting Shannon Airport and I will write to the Deputy with that information to answer all the questions she has put to me. The one point I will reiterate is that the primary purpose of regulations in this area that my Department oversees pertains to the safety of aircraft and that of persons on board and that any applications for munitions that are categorised as dangerous goods are forwarded to a dangerous goods specialist in the Irish Aviation Authority. Moreover, I am confident that all policy in this area is implemented. I cannot answer now the Deputy's particular question on the time in which such applications are evaluated but I will write to her with the answer.
While I will accept that information, if the Minister is not able to tell me that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade approved all the permits that were granted, then we have a serious problem. For example, some of the information that was given pertained to a permit request on 27 April last year for a flight carrying four Mk44 gun sections. These are vehicle-mounted guns that fire armour-piercing incendiary rounds at a very high rate of fire and Javelin anti-aircraft missile parts also transited on that flight. Some of the information is redacted and some states that when the question and the form asked whether the packaging was in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, technical instructions, the answer is "No" and yet a permit was granted.
As the Minister spoke of aircraft safety and that being his responsibility, when he is searching I ask that in particular, he examine the permits granted to Atlas Air in May 2014 when those packaging requirements were not in place. This is very serious. The evidence from the Minister's own Department shows clearly that Ireland is complicit in the activity that is going on regarding US-led wars in the Middle East.
All the decisions my Department takes in this area are with the active consultation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and are consistent with the foreign policy objectives of our country. I appeared before the summer before the petitions committee of the Oireachtas and answered questions on this matter for most of an afternoon. As for the broad question the Deputy put to me regarding munitions and the kind of material that is given exemptions, the point I again must emphasise is the role my Department plays in this regard pertains to safety of the aircraft and of people on it. Any kinds of items that are given exemptions must always be packaged securely and must be stored in the hold and in such a way that they are inaccessible during the flight.
A brief question from Deputy Wallace.
The Minister stated that everything that is happening is consistent with our foreign policy objectives. He stated his major concern is the safety of the aircraft and the personnel on them. If this is consistent with Ireland's foreign affairs policy, is the Minister comfortable with that fact? Perhaps a new policy is needed because there was a time when we used to consider ourselves to be neutral. Over the past 13 years, it has been established by international bodies that the US military has killed 1.3 million citizens, not military people, in the Middle East and has displaced millions more. This is not disconnected from the huge problem in Europe today. If one bombs people's homes - and Ireland allows them to use Shannon on the way to bomb their homes - one can expect people to cross borders and to try to find somewhere safer to live. Is the Minister comfortable with what is happening?
The Minister, to conclude.
In response to the Deputy, I am comfortable and I do support the objectives in our foreign policy. Ireland is a neutral country. The policy we have reflects that and as a former Minister of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I saw the way in which Ireland's neutrality was articulated in different meetings and in different discussions on the matter to which the Deputy is referring.
Is the Minister serious?
I am answering Members' questions on the passage and transit of aircraft through Irish airspace. The Government's policy in this matter is clear. I have outlined to Members all the figures Deputy Clare Daly sought in her question, as she is absolutely entitled to do, and I have stated I will supply further material and I will. As for the use of civilian aircraft and that matter, the relevant legislation or order is the order of 1973. It empowers somebody to enter an aircraft and inspect it, if it is suspected that the provisions of carrying munitions of war are being contravened. I am not aware of such an allegation or offence having been raised in recent years or being reported to the Garda.
That is unbelievable.
That is my knowledge and the Garda has the ability to carry out such an inspection if these provisions are being infringed.
Unbelievable.
We must move on.
9. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport with regards to the 0.47 ha site that has been put up for sale by Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, if he, as the main shareholder in the company, was made aware of this in advance of the site being put on a property website (details supplied); if his consent is required by the company to sell assets; if he considers it appropriate for the company to sell land while a due diligence into the finances of the company is still being carried out by his Department, and while the future governance of the harbour is being established by the Harbours Bill 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31917/15]
I have asked approximately 100 questions about Dún Laoghaire Harbour over the past four years and the fear that I and many people in Dún Laoghaire have about the creeping privatisation of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. This question relates to the decision of the harbour company to put up for sale 0.47 ha in an area called "the Gut", just off the west pier in recent weeks. Is this not proof of the creeping privatisation of Dún Laoghaire Harbour? Was the Minister made aware of the plan to sell this land, which in the Dún Laoghaire Harbour plan also was earmarked for residential development, which is strongly opposed by local people? Does the Minister think it appropriate that the company should put up for sale this land when the governance of Dún Laoghaire Harbour is going to change - it has not yet been decided fully - and when a due diligence exercise is under way to establish what the hell is going on financially within the harbour company?
I thank the Deputy for his question. At a meeting with the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company in May 2015, the company advised me of its intention to dispose of the site referred to in the Deputy's question. The company's master plan, published in 2011, earmarked this site for potential development. Under the Harbours Acts, there is no requirement for the company to seek my consent for the sale of this land. The disposal of land is a statutory matter for the directors of the company and not one in which I, as Minister or shareholder, have a legal function.
As the Deputy is aware, the Harbours Bill 2015 will provide the legislative provision for the transfer of ports of regional significance to local authority control. The due diligence process is currently being carried out by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has advised the council of its plans for this site. I understand the proceeds from the sale of this site will be used for maintenance works in the harbour.
First, in terms of the legislation, the ultimate decision on what will happen in Dún Laoghaire Harbour is the Minister's. I had that confirmed in a rather bad-tempered letter I received from the chairwoman of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company-----
Did the letter jump up and bite the Deputy?
-----squealing, frankly, about some of the stuff I had been saying about the harbour company. I do not have time to deal with all of that now but the contentious issue is the question of privatisation of the harbour and the extent to which privatisation of the harbour is linked and contingent to this cruise berth plan.
Similarly, in the harbour master plan, other land at St. Michael's Wharf in the old harbour, as in the case of this site which the company has put up for sale, is earmarked for exclusive private residential development. First, the people do not want this and, second, the sale of land is clearly privatisation of the harbour. As the main shareholder in this company should the Minister be allowing this to go ahead against the background of huge controversy about it and given the future governance and plans for the harbour have not yet been decided and are ultimately in his hands?
On the latter point, the Deputy is aware of my views in regard to the ownership structure and future of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company. I reiterate that I am certain a port of that scale, in terms of all of the things it manages, should be part of the local authority in that area, namely, the Dún Laoghaire local authority unit. I am certain that is the right way in which that port should be managed in the future. The legislation to allow this to happen which I am confident will be passed by both Houses this year, will put in place the statutory foundations for the governance and ownership model for that and other ports to be changed. I believe that is appropriate and that it will happen. I am committed to making it happen.
On the Deputy's allegation regarding privatisation of the port, I find that difficult to accept because I believe the port and governance model should remain in the hands of the public. I am certain that operation of the port into the future should be through Dún Laoghaire local authority and local government in that area. On the Deputy's final question regarding the sale of land, I have already explained to him that I do not have a role in decisions like that. I have to respect the independent role of directors in boards such as the board of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy Boyd Barrett has one more question.
That board has informed me that the proceeds of sale of that land, were it to go ahead, will be used for maintenance of the infrastructure which the Deputy wants to see developed.
First, the sale of public land is privatisation. That is what it is. Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has now put up for sale part of Dún Laoghaire harbour. This is linked to a master plan which the Minister has acknowledged also proposes private residential development in the form of hundreds of private apartments on the site at St. Michael's Wharf and in the old harbour. That is privatisation. This is going on now. The company is pushing this stuff through. As I said, the people do not want this. The Minister is the person in charge, although I agree with him that this matter should come under the ambit of the council. This group of people appear to be a law unto themselves. The Minister said he cannot do anything about this because those involved are independent directors, even though he is the main shareholder. We cannot get proper answers from the council and these directors continue to sell off parts of the harbour, which are earmarked for private exclusive residential development. That is privatisation and the Minister is letting it happen. There was supposed to be a due diligence of the financial situation in the harbour.
Again, there is a due diligence process taking place between the harbour company and the local authority, which I support and believe must happen. The reason it must happen is because the appropriate way for that port to be governed, developed and operated into the future is through the local authority in the area. The legislation to allow that to happen will be enacted later this year. I have answered the Deputy's question on my role in regard to the disposal of land. As Minister my role is in regard to moves away from the core purpose of the port. I have been involved in decisions-----
Building apartments is a big change.
-----that required my consent and have come into this House and explained the reasons in some cases I have given consent and in others I have not. My priority in this regard-----
Building apartments is not a core activity.
I am not going to comment on local views or matters in the development of a particular piece of land. I have set out my position on what I believe is the right way for this port to be governed and developed into the future.
10. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason Fáilte Ireland has not granted funding to Donegal County Council for toilets and car parking facilities at Malin Head, now that planning permission has been granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31945/15]
This question seeks from the Minister an explanation for the delay in Fáilte Ireland awarding funding for the development of toilet and car parking facilities at the icon site that is Malin Head now that planning permission has been granted to Donegal County Council for that development. The Minister will be aware that this project is being carried out in three phases. That was the agreement. Phase one, the construction of pathways and erection of the viewing platform, has been completed. The facilities now to be provided form part of phase two, with the third phase involving a wider project. When will the funding to allow the toilet and car parking facilities to be developed be made available?
The role of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in tourism lies primarily in the area of national policy. The development of tourism attractions is an operational matter for the board and management of Fáilte Ireland. I have no role in the decision to allocate funding to specific projects. Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to the agency for direct reply.
I am aware that Fáilte Ireland recently completed a strategic environmental assessment of the full Wild Atlantic Way initiative. Given the environmental sensitivity of Malin Head, completion of this assessment was essential prior to the awarding of funding to Donegal County Council to develop plans for the site. Fáilte Ireland is now in a position potentially to provide funding, including technical assistance, to Donegal County Council to prepare plans for a significant visitor enhancement and management solution for Malin Head. Once finalised and costed, the plans could be evaluated for capital funding.
I understand that toilets and car parking facilities will be considered as part of the work but a wider vision and solution is needed if Malin Head and the Wild Atlantic Way are to deliver their full potential for Donegal. Any development works at the site must also enhance the visitor experience at the location and allow for better visitor flow as well as ensuring the protection of the natural environment there.
I commend the work of the local community, Malin Head Development Association, local businesses, the Inishowen Development Partnership and, in particular, local councillor Mr. Martin McDermott, all of whom have been working together to try to further this project. I am disappointed by the Minister of State's response. It is three years since Fáilte Ireland, with Donegal County Council and local partners, committed to the development of Malin Head over three phases. Phase one has been completed. Phase two provides for development of the car parking and toilet facilities. Donegal County Council worked with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and planning authorities in respect of planning permission for this project. It did so on the understanding that once permission had been obtained Fáilte Ireland would then provide a grant to deliver on the project. Fáilte Ireland brought people down a pathway on the understanding that funding would be available. Now that the end of that pathway has been reached, Fáilte Ireland is proposing a return to the start of the process and the taking of a new route, with no funding to be provided until that new process has been exhausted. In the meantime, three years have been lost and local businesses and the tourism potential of the county and peninsula is suffering, which is unacceptable.
A question please, Deputy.
I know this is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland. At the end of the day, however, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, are the persons in charge in this matter. Fáilte Ireland has messed up in this process. Will the Minister and Minister of State engage with Fáilte Ireland and ask it to account for how it dealt with this matter? Will they ask in particular that the funding it committed to at the outset once planning permission had been granted be delivered in order that we can see some improvement in the facilities at Malin Head and development of the tourism potential in that area?
The Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh and Deputy Dinny McGinley have been very supportive of the Wild Atlantic Way.
Hear, hear.
The Deputy knows that. He also knows that this Government put in place the funding for the Wild Atlantic Way. Last Friday, I was in Donegal, where I met hoteliers, restaurateurs and bicycle and boat suppliers, all of whom are delighted with what is happening with the Wild Atlantic Way. The site in question is a very sensitive site and we must be very careful about how it is developed. There were initiatives that had to be dealt with.
They are now dealt with. Fáilte Ireland will make the decisions in future. The Government has always said that the Wild Atlantic Way will be a ten-year plan. We are into the third year and the Wild Atlantic Way is working. A meeting in Donegal last week was the first time those in the tourism sector took the view that there was a way forward and that something was happening for their area. I am delighted that the local community and businesses, including hoteliers and restaurateurs as well as all the other people involved in tourism, are buying into the Wild Atlantic Way.
Malin Head is one of the three designated areas for signature points. Donegal is getting three of these. We will develop them and it will take time, but that is a matter for Fáilte Ireland. Fáilte Ireland will respond to Deputy McConalogue. This Government has provided €10 million. Last week, we provided €3.5 million for signs for signature and photographic points. Everyone in Donegal was delighted last week. I never saw those in the tourism sector happier since I came into it.
I will finish by putting this much on the record. When Deputy McConalogue's Government was in office it was unable to deliver the Wild Atlantic Way. A total of 7.5 million people came into this country last year and 220,000 people are employed in tourism. I am delighted to say that the people of Donegal see a way forward now. They are delighted with the Wild Atlantic Way and we will deliver it.
