I am glad that the topic of tourism is regularly raised in this House and I am sure the Leader will respond accordingly. I congratulate the owners of Lissadell House in County Sligo, Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy, who earlier this week announced that they were opening their entire demesne. The impressive restoration of Lissadell House is a joy to behold and I encourage anybody visiting the north west to visit it. They are throwing it open to the public for walking and cycling and are going to provide extra activities along the beach, which is a beautiful part of the north west. In the background of this decision are years of litigation between Sligo County Council and the Walsh-Cassidy family, but despite that, the family still has the appetite and enthusiasm to put their patriotic duty before their personal preferences. They bought the estate from the Gore-Booths at a time when the State would not buy it. The price was very substantial and they spent all their own money restoring the building to its former glory. Lissadell House looms large in the poetic activities of Senator W. B. Yeats whose wonderful poem pays tribute to the two Gore-Booth sisters, one of whom - I think it was Constance who later became Constance Markiewicz - he referred to as a gazelle. In that context, it is relevant to have a debate on tourism on a regular basis because of its importance to the economy and I commend the calls of other speakers to the Leader in this regard. The fact that Lissadell House is going to be opened to the public will give a huge boost to tourism in the north west.

Three other Senators have indicated. I will try to let them in, even though time is up.

I listened to comments about the success of the Wild Atlantic Way and there is a further proposal to link the Viking city of Waterford with my own mediaeval town of Carlingford via the medieval city of Kilkenny, the Boyne Valley and Newgrange and Ferdia and Ardee, I hope ending up in the nicest mediaeval town in the country. There should also be an east coast wild way in the future.

I read recently that my old alma mater, the ESB, was to recruit 300 apprentices in the next few years.

It is the way forward and is part of its development programme for the next five to ten years, which will provide young men and women with great opportunities. They heard today that the Office of Public Works intends to employ apprentices as stonemasons to continue the good work it is doing to our national monuments throughout the country.

I support the call made by Senator Feargal Quinn on the question of litter and dumping rubbish. As a nation we must take the responsibility to take home the litter we create and bin it. If we did not have to empty all the bins in the capital city, towns and villages or clean our streets one can only imagine the money we would save. The responsibility lies with us all.