Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 February 2026
437. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the amount of funding allocated to tourism development projects in County Offaly in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7523/26]
View answerCounty Offaly is included in Fáilte Ireland’s, "Ireland's Hidden Heartlands Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023 – 2027". County Offaly is also part of the Mid Shannon and Midlands destination and experience development plan which is currently in development and will provide a shared strategic direction for the region.
Fáilte Ireland works in partnership with Government, State Agencies, Local Authorities, representative groups and industry, to develop tourism across Ireland by creating destination development plans and networks, investing in infrastructure, activities, visitor attractions and festivals. I can advise the Deputy of the ways in which Fáilte Ireland are growing a sustainable tourism destination within County Offaly under a number of funding programmes.
The EU Just Transition Fund programme, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, is investing in the sustainable development of tourism in the Midlands with the aim of diversifying the regional economy by creating jobs, supporting habitats and biodiversity and sustaining communities. €68 million has been allocated to Fáilte Ireland to implement a Regenerative Tourism & Placemaking Scheme for Ireland’s Midlands. The focus of the scheme is to provide new employment opportunities for workers and communities that were heavily dependent on peat by diversifying the local economy, which will include new opportunities for tourism.
As part of the above Scheme, Bord na Móna was awarded €3.6 million in 2024 towards a development fund to bring 6 universally accessible trail networks across suitable parts of their landbank within the EU JTF territory through planning process, which included the following trails in County Offaly:
• Offaly East - between Grand Canal Greenway and Mount Lucas
• Offaly West - around Clonmacnoise, Ballinahown and Lough Boora
A number of other capital projects in County Offaly have also been awarded funding under this scheme, including but not limited to:
• Clonmacnoise – Redevelopment of Visitor Centre: €7.8 million
• Birr – Destination Towns Plus: €188,183
• Shannonbridge – Design & Planning for Urban Plaza & Callows Walkway: €218,275
• Shannonbridge – Extension of Marina: €150,000
Other funding allocated in County Offaly to date includes; funding under “Fáilte Ireland's Destination Towns” scheme which was designed to boost the attractiveness and tourism appeal of towns nationwide and is funded under the Government's Project Ireland 2040 Strategy. Fáilte Ireland allocated €400,000 in funding to Offaly County Council to develop Birr under this scheme.
Another exciting project is the Slieve Bloom Mountain Biking Trail. This project is part of the International Mountain Biking Project which has received an investment of €10.3 million through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, with an additional €950,000 from Fáilte Ireland as part of the match funding contribution.
Furthermore, the “Digital that Delivers (DTD)” programme from Fáilte Ireland is designed to power a digital transformation in Irish tourism businesses (visitor attractions, activity providers and day tours). Offaly businesses have received €60,527.02 to date from the DTD programme. This figure is inclusive of investment grant funding and direct support including diagnostics, training & mentoring. Furthermore, eight businesses in County Offaly are also participating in the “EU Just Transition Digital Transformation Programme”, with a total investment of €382,995 to date.
Finally, festivals and events are a vital component of the visitor experience for local, domestic and international audience. Fáilte Ireland has identified festivals and events as a key driver for tourism growth, particularly during off-season times. Funding delivered by Fáilte Ireland to festivals in County Offaly included the following:
Details of Exchequer funding allocated to Failte Ireland by my Department in 2025 and 2026 are available in the annual Revised Estimates Volume (REV) published by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and are available on their website. The subheads of relevance to Failte Ireland are D3 [Fáilte Ireland], D5 [Overseas Tourism Marketing Fund], D6 [Tourism Product Development] and D7 [EU Just Transition Fund].
In subhead D5 there was an underspend of €6.103 million under the Government’s Shared Island Fund of which €2.685 million relates to Fáilte Ireland and was carried over in full to 2026. There was an underspend in D6 of €12.7million in 2025. The majority of this saving was utilised in the Departments technical supplementary estimate hence was not available for carryover to 2026. In relation to D7 an amount of €14.862 million was carried over in full to 2026.
As the Deputy will be aware, project management is complex and it is inevitable that there will be some delays to projects in any given year. The purpose of facilitating capital carryover is to allow, within reason, funding tied to delayed projects to move smoothly from one year to the next to support the flow of project investment. It is intended that carried over capital allocations will be drawn in 2026.
|
Festival Name |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Festival/Bike Events Ireland |
€20,000 |
€20,000 |
€20,000 |
|
Offaly County Council |
€7,000 |
€7,000 |
€7,000 |
