asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will obtain and make available to the House a breakdown of the total expenditure on tourist promotion from State funds for each of the years 1951, 1952 and 1953, showing in respect of each of the various tourist bodies and boards the expenditure incurred on (a) salaries, fees and wages; (b) purchase and rent of premises and offices; (c) furniture and office equipment; (d) travelling expenses; (e) advertising in Ireland; (f) advertising in Britain; (g) advertising in America; (h) advertising elsewhere; (i) entertainment; (j) printing and publishing; (k) grants; (l) hotel inspection and supervision, and any other substantial item of expenditure capable of segregation under a separate heading.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cost of Tourist Promotion.
The grants which are made to An Bord Fáilte and to Fógra Fáilte are for the discharge of the functions assigned to them under the Tourist Traffic Acts, 1939 and 1952. The expenditure of the grants is within the discretion of the boards. The Tourist Traffic Act, 1952, requires that the accounts of both boards shall be audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor-General and that a copy of every balance sheet and income and expenditure account as passed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General together with his report thereon shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The financial accounts of the boards—copies of which I am sending to the Deputy—contain a considerable amount of information concerning expenditure under various heads and perhaps the information contained therein will meet the Deputy's requirements.