Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
37. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for an overview of the progress made to date under national strategic outcome, NSO, 7 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30879/23]
View answerWill the Minister provide an overview of the progress made to date under NSO 7 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030 and will he make a statement on the matter?
I will indeed. It has just occurred to me that, in the Deputy’s other question on the national development plan, he put to me a specific point about a cycleway or greenway and I did not revert to him. If he gives me details in the context of the discussions I am having with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on transport funding, I will raise the matter with him. I meant to revert to the Deputy on it.
I thank the Minister.
NSO 7 of the national development plan relates to enhancing amenities and heritage. It recognises that our cultural heritage is as an essential component, not only in our response to the profound climate challenge we are facing, but also in how we make our cities, towns and villages the kinds of environment we want communities to live and prosper in. There are ongoing investments in the maintenance and upgrading of the national parks and nature reserves throughout the country to enhance conservation, improve visitor facilities and develop new routes. The Wexford Wildfowl Reserve visitor centre is a good example of such a facility. In 2022, €8 million was provided to assist the National Monuments Service and built heritage with the conservation and restoration of our built heritage across the country through the Historic Structures Fund and the built heritage investment scheme.
The Government continues to support our cultural institutions in many different ways. I could mention projects such as the Crawford Art Gallery, which the Deputy is undoubtedly familiar with, the wider urban regeneration under way in Limerick and the work being done to ensure that our National Archives are made available digitally, which is an amazing project. Great work is under way in supporting facilities across the country. These are the three ways in which we are delivering against that objective in the plan.
NSO 7 is a broad area and the Minister tried to focus on various areas of expenditure. Great work is being done in terms of investments. The Minister probably has no idea which area I will focus on, so I will tell him: tourism. There is supposed to be strategic investment in tourism under NSO 7. This overlaps with investment in sports. I firmly believe that Ireland can put itself in a position to be a leader in Europe and, potentially, the world in terms of outdoor activities and pursuits and adventure tourism, for example, sailing, mountain biking, hiking and whale watching, something in which I have a keen interest. Ireland has it all, but we lack two elements: a strategy for outdoor adventures and becoming the New Zealand of the northern hemisphere; and investment in infrastructure. For whale watching and sailing, we need piers and harbours. For mountain biking, we need trails.
Mine is a general question, but we need to consider this matter seriously in terms of positioning Ireland in Europe.
I take the Deputy's point. If I look at the projects that are under way in different parts of our country, for example, the greenways we have developed and some of the projects I mentioned, it appears to me that we have a sharp focus on how we can invest in either amenities or sporting facilities to create the kind of atmosphere described by the Deputy. If he has particular projects in mind or knows of examples of things we are not doing, he might share them with me in his response.
My own sense of it generally is that I have rarely seen as much funding going into the area as is the case at the moment. As I travel around different parts of the country as part of my work, let alone hoping to go on holiday in Ireland later on in the year, I can see lots of great things happening from an amenity perspective.
To be fair to the Minister, the first piece is to put the strategy in place in terms of what outdoor activities we focus on and that we become leaders in. Is it hiking, mountain biking, sailing, kayaking or whale watching? There is obviously an overlap then in Departments because for something like whale watching or sailing, we need pier and harbour infrastructure, which is improving, but there is a whole section of coast - I am thinking of Cork which has the longest coastline in the country - where investment is needed. That is what I am talking about.
While I am here, the Minister mentioned investment in sports infrastructure and I am hoping he has an update on when we can press "Go" on the sports capital grant scheme and start inviting clubs to apply.
As I said, if the Deputy has particular projects that he believes are not being progressed because we do not have a broad strategy in place for them, I am sure he will let me know about them. When I engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and their officials, I have a sense of their huge commitment to this area and to trying to make a difference. I will follow up on behalf of Deputy O'Sullivan with the Minister of State regarding sports capital funding. I have already engaged extensively with him on the matter and I too look forward to seeing that round go ahead.
