Towards 2016 - Department of Taoiseach

National Sports MuseumThe National Museum, following consultation with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism andinitial discussions with Sporting Organisations on the availability of memorabilia, is to prepareproposals on establishing a Sports Museum in Collins Barracks.SportThe total sports budget for 2008 is €336m - an increase of over 13% on 2007.Sports Capital ProgrammeThe Sports Capital Programme for 2008, is the main vehicle for State funding of sports facilities wasannounced in national newspapers in January 2008, with a closing date of 29 February for paper-basedapplications and 7 March for online applications.Irish Sports CouncilThe 2008 budget for the Irish Sports Council (ISC) is over €57m - a 6% increase on the 2007. Thisincludes provisions for the continued extension of the network of Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs). Itis anticipated that the full network of LSP's will be rolled out by the end of March 2008.TourismThe Tourism Services Budget of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism will increase by 7% in2008 to just under €170m – the largest ever budget for Irish tourism including an increase of €5m in theTourism Marketing Fund to €50m.Visitor Numbers and Revenue ReceiptsCSO figures for the first eleven months of 2007 show an increase of 4.7% on the same period in 2006.Tourism Revenues in 2007 are expected to have increased to €6.5 billion.Tourism Product Development SchemeFunding of €15.7m is being made available in 2008 to support investment in our key tourisminfrastructure, attractions and visitor activity facilities which are in need of upgrading anddevelopment, and to bring on stream new products and experiences to meet the sophisticated needs of amore discerning international visitor.Economic and Tourism Development Plan for Shannon Airport and its wider catchment areaOn 24 January, 2008, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Transport jointlyannounced the approval of an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon AirportCatchment Area (from Kerry to Donegal), including a special tourism marketing initiative to help dealwith the advent of Open Skies.RecreationRecruitment advertisements have been placed by the 11 LEADER companies responsible for theemployment of Rural Recreation Officers (RRO) with interviews to commence in the coming weeks.It is envisaged that the Rural Recreation Officers will be appointed by mid March.Walkways were assisted with the provision of directional signs, marker posts, stiles, bridges, mapboards and other materials. In total over €1.2m worth of materials has been delivered and installedwith the assistance of RSS workers.External Relations – EU and the Wider WorldThe Government decided in November 2007 that Irish troops would participate in the EU missionbeing deployed to Chad/Central African Republic.In line with the Programme for Government commitments, the Conflict Resolution Unit has beendeveloping plans for the establishment of an Academic Centre for Conflict Resolution and the creation6