I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1962, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Transport and Power, including certain Services administered by that Office, and for payment of sundry Grants-in-Aid.
This Estimate is necessary to provide the additional sum of £150,000 required for constructional works at Cork Airport and £91,000 for tourism making a total of £241,000 against which it has been found possible to set off savings of £201,000 on other sub-heads of the Vote, together with estimated additional receipts under Appropriations-in-Aid of £30,000 leaving the net sum required at £10,000.
The excess in the case of Cork Airport is due mainly to the fact that extras and variations on the contract for the Airport buildings will exceed those provided for in the Estimate by about £100,000. In addition, payments under the contract, excluding extras, will exceed those provided for by about £50,000. This is due to the fact that constructional works for which provision was made in the 1960/61 Estimate were retarded by bad weather in that year with the result that expenditure in respect of the delayed works did not fall due for payment until the current year.
It will be appreciated that as Cork Airport was a completely new project, it was not possible to give accurate estimates on all aspects of the work. For instance, demands for accommodation in excess of that originally planned arose while construction was actually in progress.
As regards tourism, the functions previously vested in the Minister for Industry and Commerce were transferred to me by Order made by the Government on 31st October, 1961. Since then, the sums provided for tourism in the Industry and Commerce Vote have continued to be used to finance the activities of Bord Fáilte. These sums comprise £500,000 for administration and general purposes, £100,000 for the making of grants under the scheme for the development of major tourist resorts and £100,000 for the payment of grants towards the development of holiday accommodation — a total of £700,000. I am now proposing that additional funds be made available to the Board under two of those subheads — those for general purposes and for holiday accommodation grants.
The £500,000 voted earlier in the financial year for administration and general purposes was the maximum sum that could be voted under the then existing legislation. Deputies will recall, however, that the annual limit on the Board's general grant-in-aid was removed by the Tourist Traffic Act, 1961, which was enacted in August last. The purpose of that Act was to enable expenditure on tourism to be increased for a limited period and accordingly provision was made for a global sum of £5 million, from which payment will be made to Bord Fáilte of such sums as may be determined each year by the Minister for Transport and Power, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
It is desirable that the period of increased investment in tourism should be commenced without delay and accordingly this Supplementary Estimate includes provision for an additional £71,500 for the Board's general purposes grant for the current year. This sum will be applied towards the development of our tourist facilities— the improvement of road signposting, the provision of better access to national monuments and places of interest, assistance to schemes for the training of hotel staff and so on — and to increased efforts to attract visitors, through general publicity and advertising abroad and through special campaigns, such as the June Holiday Plan.
It also includes a sum of £15,000 for the payment of interest grants on loans raised by hoteliers and guest house proprietors for improvement and development works. These grants are paid in approved cases to assist in meeting interest charges for a period of five years. The scheme has proved a most effective incentive and, with the other forms of financial aid offered by Bord Fáilte, has stimulated substantially increased investment by the hotel industry.
More than £1 million is now being invested annually in the provision and improvement of accommodation and as a result I expect that the number of registered bedrooms, which a few years ago stood at about 16,000 and was tending to fall, will reach 20,000 next year. Over 3,000 of these will have private baths — a facility for which there is increasing demand. This is a very welcome development as it marks a breakthrough in the field of accommodation which was for some years a barrier to the expansion of the tourist industry.
The increased rate of investment in hotel development works has also involved Bord Fáilte in greater commitments for the payment of cash grants in respect of additional bedrooms and general improvement works. These grants are financed from the fund of £500,000 established under the Tourist Traffic Act, 1959, and as a result of the accelerated rate of development the sum of £100,000 provided for the current year has proved insufficient by about £19,500. Provision is therefore being made for the voting of this sum to the Board under the appropriate subhead, making a total additional sum of £91,000 for tourism.
I should mention that there is expected to be a saving on the Board's other subhead — that for resort development grants — of about £22,000. This saving is not due to any cut back in expenditure on resort development but to the fact that the initial steps in getting development under way at local level have taken a little longer than expected. That saving will, of course, occur in the Industry and Commerce Vote and it is not possible to apply it towards the increased commitments of Bord Fáilte for the services now under consideration. It does, in fact, reduce the additional expenditure on tourism this year from £91,000 to £69,000.
It is not many months since Deputies had an opportunity, on the occasion of the passage through the Oireachtas of the Tourist Traffic Bill, 1961, for a full debate on the tourist industry. It would not be appropriate, therefore, to undertake any major review of the industry at this stage. However, as this is the first occasion on which I have come before the Dáil in my capacity as Minister responsible for tourism, it is fitting that I should refer briefly to the progress that has been made and to plans for the future. There has been a welcome expansion in tourist traffic in recent years. In 1960, we had a total of more than 4½ million visitors, and their expenditure here, which is an important factor in closing the gap in our balance of payments, amounted to £42.4 million. The 1961 figures are not yet available but the upward trend was well maintained and visitors' expenditure is estimated to have reached £47 million. While this is on the whole a fairly satisfactory situation, I believe that even better results could be achieved by an accelerated rate of investment in tourism during the next few years. The entitlement of workers to longer paid holidays, the rise in individual incomes and the general improvement in living standards are factors which make for continuous growth in international travel.
We cannot, however, expect to get our share of increasing tourist traffic without proper planning. We have one of the best countries in the world for holidays but we must publicise it more effectively and convince as many as possible of the people of Britain, United States and Europe that it is worth visiting. That means imaginative and well planned publicity and advertising, not only by Bord Fáilte but by those deriving their livelihood from the tourist trade, particularly regional groups of hotels working in mutual collaboration. We also need a special effort to extend the season and to bring more visitors in June and September.
I have great hopes for the success of the Bord Fáilte June Holiday Plan which is based on reduced tariffs and a special promotion campaign. We must try to educate our people towards holidays outside the peak months of July and August. The country is at its best in June, the days are longer and the weather is better. The Autumn also has its own special attractions when the glorious colours of the landscape, especially in Kerry and along the West Coast, are a delight to the eye. Our golden Autumn could, I am sure, be exploited as a special attraction for visitors and I am confident that in this way, and with an intensive June campaign, we could achieve a worthwhile extension at both ends of the holiday season.
I attach great importance to the promotion of group business through organised special-interest holidays. This is already being done in the angling areas but it could be extended to other activities — golfing, river cruising, garden or botanical tours, cultural events and so on. We can also offer very attractive facilities for motoring visitors, who find our uncrowded roads a pleasant change from the congestion elsewhere. Sailing is another sphere in which we have many advantages to offer, especially along the south coast which has everything a yachtsman could desire. These facilities, if suitably developed and publicised, could attract considerable numbers of additional visitors from Britain and other countries.
While it is important that we should engage in intensive overseas publicity and advertising, the benefits of these efforts will be lost unless we ensure an enjoyable time for our visitors. Word-of-mouth publicity is probably more effective than any other medium and it is essential therefore that our overseas tourists should return home well pleased with their stay in Ireland. They should be made to feel welcome here and we should do everything we can to provide more indoor entertainment in our hotels, to let them hear our Irish singing and music and sample the best of our Irish foods.
Bord Fáilte and the other groups concerned with the tourist industry are doing a very good job but we must not rest on our laurels. The next few years are of great importance if we are to maintain our place against other competing countries. It is vital therefore that Bord Fáilte should be given the necessary funds to get on with the job and accordingly I recommend that the House approve of this Supplementary Estimate.