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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Jul 1979

Vol. 315 No. 11

Tourist Traffic Bill, 1979: Second Stage (Resumed).

Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

In relation to the improvement grant allocation, I take it that we are still confining the grant to bedrooms and thus continuing to do as we were doing. I admit that we have a new situation in that we are making provision for additional bedrooms but if the grants relate to bedrooms only it is a pity because it would mean that improvements to other areas in hotels and guesthouses will slow down. Also any improvements which take place in other areas would be without the benefit of Bord Fáilte's advice and guidance and that would apply of course to lay-out, quality, operational, planning and architectural consultancy and this will result in developments which have been termed here as insular in their conception. The finish could well be substandard and without adequate regard for the needs of tourists particularly in relation to market standards. The Minister for Health has brought in a hygiene campaign and that could very well be adversely affected if we do not give the necessary financial incentives towards better food preparation and the service areas of hotels.

We hear a lot of talk about energy conservation. Quite a substantial number of our hotels are old buildings and if we are to talk about energy conservation then very large sums of money will have to be found for insulation purposes such as double glazing and so on in these hotels. It is vitally important that grant aid from Bord Fáilte should be provided here.

As I was saying before Question Time, quite a lot of what we have to offer to tourists is based on personal appeal, on what visitors perceive and interpret as what I would call the natural friendliness of the Irish. In my own constituency where we have seaside ports one often sees groups of visitors sitting on the quayside or in the public houses and they are really enthralled with the local Eamon Kelly telling them some local story, which is usually a pack of lies but a good story, and they are really fascinated with this aspect of Irish life, and join spontaneously in the sing-songs in the pubs. This is something that does not have to be paid for. It is something we cannot buy and when we contrast that with what we have all experienced in our limited travels abroad where we have this stilted type of approach, regimental almost, where everything is the same even to the parrot-like approach of the tourist guides who rattle off the same thing every day to 20 different tourist groups and give the impression that they are just doing a job and that they are disgusted with it, we really have something to offer. We have to compare that with our own tourist guides who are so natural and create such a good impression. This is certainly something that we have and that we should cultivate.

In addition we have quite substantial natural resources. We have beautiful beaches, beautiful harbours and a wonderful countryside. We have mountains, rivers and lakes and we have the quiet country roads. This is something that is new to many of our visitors. It is something that they delight in and it is something that we have a great responsibility to preserve. This is why I was making the point that we should work more in harmony with the Department of the Environment. We might be dealing here with a utilitarian department that has to provide water and sewerage facilities and that sort of thing but they sometimes make mistakes. The fact that we pour raw sewage from our towns into our beautiful harbours is something that I should stop and it is something that I would appeal to the Minister to take up with his counterparts. It will cost money of course for treatment plants and so on but in this day and age we should not be proposing to continue the old bad habits into the future. We have to look at this and ensure that it does not happen because, like our Irish characters, like our countryside, these are things that money cannot buy; they are assets. It is not just like some of the European holiday resorts with the bleak, flat uninteresting countryside, the equally uninteresting hotels and their often mediocre beaches. We have all these things and it is my view that they should be developed further. What would America give for Blarney Castle or for some of our dolmens and cromlechs and all the wonderful history attached to Dublin? What would the Americans give for something like Wood Quay and what would they give for the old historical places here? After all, they can only go back as far as the Alamo. This is what they appreciate. Almost every one of them can trace some relationship to somebody in Ireland. They all have a 31st cousin somewhere. They have a love of Ireland. When they come here they are often a little disappointed at our treatment of these historic places and the neglect of our national monuments.

Here again we are hampered by a shortage of funds. Many wonderful castles are badly in need of money to make them safe. In some cases these castles could be fully restored which would be an asset from aesthetic and commercial points of view. We must do all these things if we are serious about tourism. As I said, we are talking about substantial sums of money. In the short term we must have a crash programme but in the long term we will need substantial investment in this area if we are to reap the benefit.

As the Minister said, we have to fight for every tourist. We are in competition with sophisticated marketing people on the mainland of Europe. We must go after the tourists and win them back.

The Minister admitted many hotels are having problems this year. The hotel industry is in a very bad state. Many hotels are facing grave financial problems because of the inability to fulfil their financial commitments to the banks and lending institutions. Last year was a good year and generated improvements in the expectation of a continuation into 1979 and onwards. They were projecting very substantial figures into 1981. They could still be attained but in the interim period we have a problem which this House must face.

People borrowed heavily from their banks and lending institutions on the basis of previous years' figures which were adequate to convince those institutions that they were worthy of credit. These people are very worried about how they are going to pay their bills. Borrowings for improvements and refurbishing were estimated at £9 million. This money was borrowed because the hotels had not built up their capital reserves. Hotels will have to begin renegotiating their repayment terms. Some already had to do this as the cash flow expected from deposits earlier this year did not materialise due to the postal strike.

For example, one hotel which budgeted to receive £10,000 in deposits between January and March received a little over £700. This financial performance will have long-term repercussions. Hoteliers will not be willing to reinvest and, even if they are they will have difficulty in raising the necessary finance. Investment organisations and public companies will tend to find, and rightly so, other areas outside tourism where security and returns are more readily available. This is where we can help by moving in and, where necessary assisting anybody experiencing financial trouble, either by offering to help with the payments or by subsidising interest rates, which was a feature of Bord Fáilte's activities in the past. That was an excellent idea and it would be a big help if it were restored.

Hitherto our tourism was dependent on mobile tourists. Any restrictions on mobility can only have a detrimental effect. It is vital that tourists' needs are protected against petrol and diesel shortages. The Government have taken steps by providing a voucher scheme. It was only by trial and error that we discovered the snags, and there were many. Vouchers were available only in certain areas. Every large town and city should have a tourist office which would distribute these vouchers to tourists. We must look to the future and double the amount of fuel being provided.

In my constituency we see many UK tourists driving very large cars. They may have to change because of the petrol shortage all over the world. The 40 gallons allocated to each tourist is not very much use because he will probably be able to drive only about 1,200 miles. Therefore, I am in favour of doubling that amount forthwith.

The Deputy is stretching the Bill. That is a matter for another Minister. This Bill is very confined and I have given everybody quite a bit of latitude.

It is dealing with the problem of the current depression in the tourist industry, and I am offering very concrete suggestions.

Petrol supplies and rationing would be matters for another Minister.

British Railways have been a bit unfair to us in their overseas offices in making the point that our vouchers are worth hardly anything and once used up the tourists will find themselves without petrol. I have had visitors and I have no difficulty at all in obtaining additional petrol for them. It is unfair of British Rail to make these comments at a time like this.

The Bill is to amend the Tourist Traffic Acts to allow the Minister to increase the contribution to Bord Fáilte from £16 million to £25 million and to increase the grant aid to the Bord for their development work from £4.75 million to £10 million. Increased aid to Bord Fáilte is to be welcomed because out of the limited funds that the board have at their disposal they have done trojan work in promoting tourism abroad and helping industry here at home. In the past when we had problems in the tourist trade we could rely always on Bord Fáilte to pick up the pieces. They have done this in the escalation of the troubles in the North and on any other occasion when, because of European depressions or for various other reasons, we had a shortfall in tourism. We could rely on the courageous personnel of Bord Fáilte to forge ahead. I appeal to the Minister to go back again to his colleagues in Government because of the seriousness of the present situation. While the proposed increase is very welcome, it is not nearly adequate to meet the requirements of the board and the hotel industry. A short-term grant should be made at once so that we can get everybody moving again, because move we must.

The board have always been very helpful to young people starting off in the hotel business. They have been helpful in the case of farm guest-houses and in the case of people planning caravan sites and so forth and they have cooperated with practically everybody. Their work abroad, not so well known here at home, is equally effective and efficient. I saw examples of it in America where we have Bord Fáilte people who are well known and appreciated for the work they are doing. I hope that the Minister in his reply will give us a reassurance that he will be prepared to extend the present grants not merely to new bedrooms—though these are to be welcomed—but to such things as improved hygiene, staff accommodation, which is very important, better kitchens and so forth. For a few years no grants have been available for bedrooms in places like Dublin and Cork. If a European visitor or tour organiser cannot obtain a bed in Dublin, then very often the tour has to be cancelled in its entirety.

We are having problems. The industry is at an all-time low. The disastrous effects of the postal and telecommunications strike and the petrol problems are evident from the up-to-date figures from the industry. In the current review of the business we find that as compared with 1978 the bookings to date are down in some areas by as much as 60 per cent and the advance bookings by up to 80 per cent. I understand that the west and the south-west are the worst hit. Needless to mention, this will have repercussions right across the board. The effect will be felt by the farmers, the market gardeners, the shopkeepers, the supermarkets and everybody supplying the industry. It is a serious situation, and those of us who live in areas where tourism is a big thing in summertime know that nothing can compare with a good clatter of tourists to spread money around in the pubs, restaurants and so on.

Because of the current problems the job loss to industry is very substantial. It would be much worse were it not for the fact that hoteliers, especially those who can afford to do so, are avoiding the consideration of redundancies in the hope of improvement.

Bord Fáilte would do well to emphasise in their overseas operation the availability of vouchers for fuel and to correct the impression given abroad by British Railways that our fuel vouchers are no help and that once they have been used the tourist is left high and dry. I appeal to the Minister to double the number of vouchers issued and, in conjunction with his colleague, to make every effort to end all these petrol queues. He should also ensure that petrol stations assigned the responsibility of providing voucher petrol have the petrol to give. He should ensure that the vouchers are made available at convenient centres around the country, especially in the west. On that point, in every town, especially in our tourist areas, we should have at least a little tourist office even if it were to be manned for only the summer months, where all this business could be done and the tourist would know exactly where to go.

One complaint that I have heard from tourists generally is in regard to sign-posting. In the major Continental cities the various exits have been sign-posted properly, and this is something that we should consider for the benefit of our tourists.

Some of our hoteliers believe that we cannot redeem the current season, that it is irredeemable. If that is so the Minister must move in quickly to help to ensure that people catering for the tourist industry will not be forced out of business by empty bedrooms and by the exorbitant interest rates that they have to pay at the moment. We should restore the grants to cover interest payments on the loans which are so useful. We should reconsider applications for grants to be used for works other than bedrooms in the light of this additional money. This would restore much confidence which has been lost due to the depressed season.

Tourism is a potentially rich area which requires careful consideration and cultivation. Massive investment and proper management will certainly result in good returns. Preparation for next year must be thorough. We must mean what we say in telling tourists that adequate supplies of fuel will be available. If we say that a certain carrier will operate to and from a certain place on a certain date we must ensure that this will be the case. Some of the operations of Sealink leave a lot to be desired in this respect.

Fuel shortages will abviously be worldwide, and I would envisage a change in tourist patterns. In the future some tourists will be prepared to stay in one hotel for a week or a fortnight but only if they are provided with the amenities they require. Money must be spent on the provision of swimming pools and facilities for tennis, golf and pony trekking, and slipway facilities must be provided on our beaches. On the subject of pony trekking, which has become so popular in the south, I would ask for special consideration. People involved in this aspect of the tourist industry operate separately from the hotels, and difficulties this year may force them out of business. Bord Fáilte should examine this matter.

It has often been said in this House that the UK is one of our best tourist markets, and I would agree. The journey across the narrow band of water dividing us from the UK must be one of the most expensive in the world. An Irish Laker is badly needed to bring people here cheaply. Through Bord Fáilte we must promote more package holidays in Ireland and compete with Spain, even if it means massive State investment. How is it that an Irish family can spend two weeks in a reasonably good hotel in Spain for the same price as a two-week holiday at home? Only 40 per cent of our own people take holidays of more than four days away from home.

This Bill is very limited. The Deputy will have every opportunity to speak on these matters when dealing with the Estimate. The Bill does not cover the whole area of tourism.

I am asking the Minister and the Government to salvage an industry which is going to the wall.

The Chair has a duty to keep reasonably near to the Bill before the House. The Deputy may deal with the whole area of tourism on the Estimate.

I would ask the Minister whether he has received a submission from the Irish Tourist Council or Bord Fáilte pointing out the need for an in depth examination of the whole question of the relation between the cost of access transport and the volume of tourist traffic. Bord Fáilte should help our exiles to holiday at home. The Minister is aware that exiles are not catered for by package tours because they generally stay with friends and relatives. They are our own kith and kin and should be enabled to benefit from these tours.

Coach tours from the US have also shown a decline this year. This is to be understood and is a fact of which we should not lose sight. I envisage that CIE coach tours will be expanded as a result of the fuel shortage. People will be inclined to visit this country without their cars and we must offer them a sophisticated type of coach tour operation. At present we are doing a good job in this area and private enterprise is helping.

I welcome the inclusion of farm guesthouses in this Bill. Those who provide this type of accommodation have made a tremendous contribution. No two of these guesthouses are alike but their standards are excellent and the preparation of food leaves nothing to be desired. Money spent on this area will be well spent. Many young people living in areas where there is a certain amount of tourist traffic would love to go into this business but very often substantial expenditure is involved. Their houses might be adequate only for family requirements, and such people would be greatly encouraged by grants.

Farm guesthouses are peculiar to this country and are not found elsewhere. The Welsh and Scottish tourist boards have a lot to say about tasting Wales and tasting Scotland. Farm guesthouses, guesthouses generally and places like the Yeats school do a lot to give tourists a taste of Ireland, Irish food at its best. Our Irish chefs have won competitions all over the world. I welcome the statement by the Minister about the increased financial aid to this area. The Minister stated today:

The board's plan set out proposals for capital spending which included joint development with bodies such as the Office of Public Works and the Forest and Wildlife Service on conservation, recreational and educational projects ....

This is a very welcome suggestion. Board Fáilte have always worked hand in hand with the Forestry Department and the Wildlife Service. More money will have to be provided in this area. There are some wonderful forests, which are not available to us, which could very easily be developed and would prove to be a wonderful amenity. There were some worries in the past about the danger of fire but tourists nowadays are well versed in fire hazards.

The Minister further stated:

... expenditure to encourage the improvement of facilities by those directly involved with sailing and water sports, horse riding, horsedrawn caravans, sea angling, swimming pools, recreational projects and similar activities and facilities.

I am glad to see that a lot will be done in relation to those matters. I do not believe that sufficient money is being provided because the costs are very great in relation to water sports and sea angling. A few years ago my country approached Bord Fáilte for a grant towards the provision of a wharf in Youghal. Even though the board's contribution at that time was very small it was in the region of £60,000. Therefore, we are talking about very substantial amounts of money. Many of our harbour facilities in the tourist area are inadequate to cater for boats and facilities for tourists. Ballycotton is a fishing village but it is also a tourist village. We cannot intrude on the fishermen by allowing all the tourist boats to be provided for that area. I believe with some expenditure a lot could be done to make slipways available at suitable points and proper haulage facilities so that the boats could be taken up and down to the slipways. Most of those boats are small. Tourists always want to know if they can hire boats or where they can get hold of boats. They all seem to think they can get boats very easily but that is not the case. They prefer to take boats out themselves rather than be taken out by boat owners.

I welcome the provisions in the Bill. Anything I may have said was not criticism of the Minister or of the board but I make no apology for saying that we need a crash fund at the moment to help the industry where possible, especially where there are severe difficulties. I am glad that we are extending the bedroom facilities for hotels in certain areas. It is a pity that we are not extending those grants to cover all aspects of the hotel business. I am satisfied that the Minister is doing a worth-while job in relation to guesthouses. I am prepared to co-operate with him in helping to get the tourist industry going again. The postal dispute is now behind us. We still have a fuel problem. We should help our industry now as it is going through a tough period. I do not believe we will be able to rectify the situation for 1979 but we should take steps to put the industry right and I believe that when 1980 comes we will be on target.

I would like to compliment Deputy Hegarty on his comprehensive review of the tourist industry. I do not intend to speak at any great length because the Bill has just two specific proposals. I welcome the proposals which provide for increases in the allocations for accomodation and for development. I am sure that everybody will agree that this has been a year of near disaster unless it picks up later on in the season. I am glad the Minister is taking his courage in his hands and, despite those setbacks, is prepared to provide for the future.

We must provide for the future not alone for the tourist industry but for all the people working in that industry, who have been affected by the recent disputes and the shortage of petrol. We cannot ignore the fact that there are 100,000 people working in the industry and as well as that there is the interest of the hotels, the guesthouses, the farmhouses, shops, licensed premises and those who supply the food. We are not talking about something imaginary. We are talking about real things such as jobs and all the other facets of the industry I have mentioned.

I hope I will be proved wrong in stating that this has been a near disaster year. It has been such for workers who usually got employment in the industry during the year and who have been denied that because of the slump. This has particularly affected young people at school who depended on jobs in hotels or in transport in order to get the money to put them through college. We cannot deny that there is a recession and I shall mention briefly the reasons for it. I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will agree with me when I say that there have never been fewer foreign registered cars on the roads which both of us travel practically every week. There is a reduction in the vacancies for jobs in the transport system and there is also a reduction in vacancies for jobs in hotels and restaurants.

The increase last year of 480,000 visitors, which the Minister said was equivalent to a 27 per cent increase, was an indication that the industry was thriving after certain setbacks which we had four or five years ago. That increase also suggested something else to the Minister and to those in the industry, namely, a shortage of accommodation. The Minister is doing something about that now. I am not in a position to know if it is enough but at least it is an indication that the Minister and Bord Fáilte are preparing for an anticipated increase in tourism in 1980.

We cannot ignore entirely the causes of the recession. I know we cannot take precautions against some of the causes in the coming years but one of the main causes for the recession in tourism was the postal and telecommunications dispute which commenced on 18 February 1979 and continued up to ten days ago. It came at a bad time when people from abroad, particularly from Britain, would normally be making bookings or trying to have them confirmed. Naturally they were very loath to come here when they knew they could have no contact with their homes by letter or by telephone. We all agree that the telephone system has been the responsibility of many governments and that it has been bad at the best of times but having no telephones at all was the last straw so far as tourism was concerned.

I sincerely hope that when the recommendations of the review group, possibly in an amended form, are accepted and acted upon they will improve the service which is so vital for the tourist industry and the economy in general. The Minister in his dual capacity as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs could do something in the immediate future to improve telecommunications. Recently we gave him permission to raise a few hundred million pounds to improve the telephone system. This may not be the right time to ask but possibly he may be able to tell us what progress has been made towards improvement of the system now that he has extra capital money. As far as I know, a fair amount of money has been voted for this area but there do not seem to have been any beneficial results.

Another major problem that confronted the tourist industry, and which is still confronting it, was the petrol shortage. Even now visitors have no real guarantee of supply. The voucher system which was referred to by Deputy Hegarty was introduced at a very late stage in the oil and petrol crisis. I wonder if we were the most affected country in the EEC so far as the petrol shortage was concerned or did the international coverage we got deter people from coming here? Did it exaggerate the situation so far as availability of petrol was concerned? I do not believe it was as bad as it was painted by the media—I am not talking about the Irish media but the media overseas. There is no guarantee that there will not be a repetition of the May and June situation. The shortage of fuel oils will continue and I trust the Minister will be able to make appropriate arrangements to ensure petrol supplies for visitors.

In any case, we should prepare now for the 1980 season. In consultation with the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, I am sure a much better voucher system could be worked out. Some consideration should be given to Irish people who holiday here. It is all very well for those who are confined to their own area and who have a guaranteed supply from their usual petrol supplier but if Irish citizens wish to travel from Cork or Wexford to Donegal they should be guaranteed by way of some other voucher system that they will get back to their base.

This Bill provides for an increase in the amount available for accommodation from £16 million to £25 million. I am sure all of us agree there is great need for such an injection of money into the provision of extra accommodation. Last year extra accommodation was badly needed. The Minister outlined the features of the new scheme. I support Deputy Hegarty who suggested that the scheme should be extended to staff accommodation and to kitchens. This is as important as bedroom accommodation. Perhaps the Minister would indicate if it would be possible to include a grant for these items.

The Minister said:

There will be different levels of grant related roughly to estimated need with grants from 25 per cent to 35 per cent of room cost subject to fixed cash maxima;

It is fair enough that there would be a maximum amount paid. Does that mean that the recipient of the grant will receive 75 per cent of the cost within the limit and that 25 per cent or 35 per cent, as the case might be, would be paid by Board Fáilte? I read an article recently in a newspaper in which there was what appeared to be a quotation from Mr. Joe Malone, Director of Bord Fáilte to the effect that the scheme would mean that the board would put up a £ for every £ put up by, say, a hotel. I wonder whether Mr. Malone was quoted incorrectly or whether it was the original intention of the Minister to introduce a scheme providing for a contribution on a pound for pound basis for hoteliers and others who would qualify for such a grant.

I should be only repeating what Deputy Hegarty said if I were to pay my compliments to those who provide farmhouse holiday accommodation. I have had experience of these holidays in recent years and I was more than pleased with the courtesy extended to us and also with the excellence of the food provided and so on. That was in West Cork but I am confident that the farmhouse accommodation is equally as good in every other part of the country.

A big attraction so far as this type of holiday is concerned is that for somebody of modest means and with a fair-sized family the accommodation is very reasonable compared with the cost of hotel accommodation. The people involved in farmhouse accommodation deserve every help that we can give them. Not only are these holidays availed of by Irish people but increasing numbers of visitors from abroad are availing of them too.

I am not sure whether I heard the Minister correctly but I gather that grants in respect of farmhouse accommodation were confined to 13 counties which are more or less on the western seaboard but that the intention now is to extend those grants to all those who provide similar accommodation in other parts of the country. I think the Minister is nodding his head but perhaps he would confirm whether I am right. I would welcome this change.

I, too, welcome the increase in the amount available for development works. As the Minister has said, we cannot rely totally on our scenery or even on our way of life to attract tourists to the country. We still have reasonably traffic-jam free main roads outside the big towns and cities. There appears to be no problem in this regard when one compares our situation with the long queues of traffic shown on television at bank holiday and other holiday times in such places as Britain, France and Germany. However, we must provide facilities such as those mentioned by the Minister as qualifying for development grants. He listed among these facilities water sports, horse riding and so on. It is important that such facilities are made available. There would seem to be a lack of entertainment facilities for visitors in the evenings with the result that there is no place for them to go but to the pubs, where of course they are welcome because they are a big source of revenue, but we should make every effort to encourage the provision of other forms of entertainment for them.

I do not think that there is much Bord Fáilte can do to help in this situation because it is a matter for local communities but perhaps an effort would be made by the board to contact local authorities or various local organisations with a view to having them provide or encourage the provision of other forms of entertainment for visitors in the evenings.

Deputy Hegarty spoke at length on our ancient monuments. I agree that we take our ancient monuments for granted but visitors show much interest in them. In my home town during the months of May through September groups of visitors are conducted around the town by voluntary organisations and given a history of the area. This is a valuable exercise not only from the point of view of the visitors but from the point of view of the town.

A question that has not been referred to so far in the debate is the question of litter. While the Minister cannot be held responsible for the situation in this regard he would be doing a good day's work if he consulted with the Minister for the Environment regarding a solution to our awful litter problem. I cannot say that I have travelled abroad extensively but I have travelled to some extent and from the experience I have had in that regard I would say that we are the most littered country in western Europe. This situation both amazes and disgusts people who come here from such places as Britain, France, Germany and the US. While for many decades references have been made to this problem, little seems to be done about solving it. The right place to start is in the schools, to educate children in this respect. Perhaps there are schools where lectures are given on this aspect of our environment but generally speaking I do not think that much emphasis is placed in the schools on the problem. But there is a need, too, to educate some of our older citizens in regard to the problem of litter. Today practically everything we buy is wrapped so that as soon as we remove what we buy from its package there is a need to dispose of that package and it amazes me that so many people simply throw this rubbish on to the street. Visitors are amazed at this practice. Is it any wonder, then, that we are referred to sometimes as the dirty Irish?

This party are prepared to co-operate with the Minister to the utmost in promoting this very valuable industry, an industry for which there is yet a great future and in respect of which we have not reached saturation point. The investment we are making in the industry now will provide a massive return for the State in terms of revenue.

So far as the problems facing the tourist industry in Ireland are concerned this Bill, to quote a well-known American politician, is not worth a bucket of spit. I say this because the problems are not next year's problems. They are this year's problems but the Bill relates to next year's problems. Even allowing for what is in the Bill, the Minister's approach is wrong. If the Minister were serious about tourism and about supporting Bord Fáilte in their efforts to boost the industry he would be here to-day with a Supplementary Estimate to give the board an extra grant to go to where the principal fall-off is occurring and that, according to the newspapers, is the UK.

(Dublin South-Central): The Minister is there to-day.

I am glad to hear that, but presumably he will spend 24 hours there during which time he will address groups of travel agents and prominent Irish citizens living in the UK, have a good lunch and come back straight away. Instead, he should be here seeking extra money for Bord Fáilte to enable them to put from, say, six to 20 people from every tourist area in Ireland into the UK, people who would tell the truth about Ireland, who would let potential visitors know about the petrol situation, about the accommodation, about the telephone service and so on and encourage people to come here between now and the end of the year. We know that there will be a fall-off in the industry this year. We have confidence in the future of the tourist industry and know that it is a growth industry. However, the Minister should concern himself with the lack of growth at present in the industry instead of concerning himself with accommodation for 1980 and 1981.

An article in the Cork Examiner of Tuesday 26 June gives an account of a press conference held by Bord Fáilte. The article is headed “Ireland: `Skip it.' part of the article reads:

But in Brussels, clerks at the booking office of British Rail tell potential Ireland-bound travellers to think twice before embarking on one of the car ferries linking Britain with Ireland.

The warning is illustrated with stories of distressed tourists who during their stay were stuck several times without a drop of petrol.

British Rail agents also volunteer the information that Bord Fáilte vouchers for guaranteed petrol supplies are hardly any help at all. They add that once the coupons are used up a tourist has no access to petrol stations.

I am not sure what the last sentence means.

It is the Minister's duty to inform the Irish manager of British Rail that if his employees on the Continent are advising tourists to skip Ireland then they can damn well skip bringing their boats to Ireland. Since the State was established, British Rail have been trading into two areas, Dún Laoghaire and Rosslare. They pulled out of Waterford because it suited them to do so. If that is how they would like to promote tourism from Ireland to Great Britain the Minister should deal with them. We have exceptional assets and our best asset is our people. Despite harsh propaganda from a small section of the community, the people have always welcomed British tourists and will continue to do so. The Minister should recruit an army of commercial travellers and send them to the UK to inform the people concerned that the postal and telecommunications strike is over; that the inept petrol voucher scheme introduced by his colleague, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, is now working more satisfactorily; that their currency is now worth more than it was last year. Tourism is an export trade. One of the benefits of our currency is that it makes our exports more attractive. The Minister should act now in order to attract tourists during the months of August, September and October. I believe that the American market is holding well, despite articles such as the one that appeared in the Evening Herald on Thursday, 28 June. Part of the article reads:

"We have met other Americans in the same trouble," added Mrs. O'Connor. "They have had to beg for petrol to get them to the office where they can get vouchers and a lot of garages only sell to regulars."

There is no doubt, as Deputies Corish and Hegarty said, that the petrol voucher scheme was not a success. I know it was introduced in a hurry and that it was not an easy scheme to introduce. The Minister said that he was having discussions with the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy to devise a better scheme. One of the problems is that garages who supply petrol to tourists have no guarantee that they will be given replacement supplies.

(Dublin South-Central): I understand that they have a guarantee the fuel will be replaced.

I am glad to hear that. A simple scheme would be to issue to tourists vouchers which could be cashed as a priority in any garage. Garages accepting the vouchers should be guaranteed replacement supplies. One of the objections to such a scheme was that it could be abused, but I think that all schemes are open to abuse.

I am afraid that the Minister does not appreciate the urgency to attract tourists to the west and south-west. Many hoteliers who have built extensions are now faced with the cost of the extensions plus the cost of financing them at current interest rates. Last night I was told that there were only six customers at dinner in a well-known restaurant in Kerry one night last week. Another hotel in the south-east, not a hundred miles from Deputy Corish, can now be booked on a forthnight's notice instead of the usual six months in advance. The biggest hotel on the Ring of Kerry had only ten guests the week before last. These facts can be verified through Bord Fáilte. The confidence of those who have devoted their time to tourism should be maintained. They should be told that the Government and Bord Fáilte appreciate their problems and are doing something about them.

The Minister should seek permission from the Department of Finance to introduce a supplementary estimate which would allow Bord Fáilte to promote our tourist industry. We were given very bad publicity on a BBC programme a fortnight ago. The following week an effort was made to correct it but by then the damage had been done. I did not see the first programme but people who have seen it have told me about it, and there is no doubt that it presented a most bleak picture of Irish vehicular communication and telephonic communication and virtually said the same as another English state body, British Rail, said about Ireland without using the same words. I do not know who managed to get the correction on to the BBC programme but full marks to whoever did it. I would suggest that the Minister should now get on to the tail of British Rail and get that corrected and he should follow that up by getting tourists in here from all over Europe. I have not got any first-hand knowledge but I have seen told that the greatest damage has been done in the United Kingdom. The present situation is not a turn down for tourism here. It is a pick-up, something that can be overcome but will not be overcome by looking at problems that will face the hotel industry in 1980 and 1981. It must be tackled now. It is that urgent.

The Bill itself will not put a penny into Bord Fáilte pockets. If it is passed here before 5 o'clock today that does not mean that Bord Fáilte will have any extra money at lunchtime tomorrow or tomorrow week or in November or in November 12 months unless the Minister lets them have it. It is purely an enabling Bill. I presume the reason this Bill has been introduced is because we are approaching the £16 million ceiling and the ceiling has to be lifted now to allow the Minister to give more but Bord Fáilte have no right to any money because this Bill is passed here.

I would like the Minister to say that he will be following through by giving extra money to Bord Fáilte to increase and improve the accommodation in the country. I say that because it seems to me by the way the Minister's speech is drafted that things are being put on the long finger. The Minister says:

In planning the type of incentive scheme which would produce the best results, I have had regard to past experience, the financial state of the industry and the level of incentive which would provide the proper level of stimulus. I have accordingly designed a programme which aims to secure optimum increases in the accommodation stock at national and local levels.

Then he goes on to list the four main features of the scheme. After that he says:

I have instructed Bord Fáilte to prepare a detailed scheme embodying these principles so that on the passage of the measure now before the House they will be able to consider applications and undertake the financial commitments, for which the Bill provides.

Why did the Minister take it on himself to do this? What competence has the Minister to design a programme which aims to secure optimum increases in the accommodation stock at national and local level? If the Minister is going to undertake that type of work why have any Bord Fáilte? What functions are performed by Bord Fáilte? It is a promotional body but traditionally it has always distributed the grants out of money made available by the Minister. Of course the Minister and his Department and Accounting Officer will be responsible for the spending of that money and of course the Minister's Department and the Minister in his corporate state will have the overseeing of the scheme to see that it is in line with normal national ideas and the normal direction of the national economy. But what competence has the Minister to design a scheme when he has a body of experts in Bord Fáilte whose duty it should be and whose job it is and who are competent and indeed, I suspect, are probably recruited to Bord Fáilte to design such a scheme? How can the Minister design such a scheme? Did the Holy Ghost descend on him? Has he recruited, since I left that Department, people with that knowledge? Has the tourism section been expanded? Perhaps it has. Perhaps the people who are in that section of Bord Fáilte have been taken out of Bord Fáilte and seconded to the Department. Did this scheme come out of the Department in its present state? Deputy Hegarty said that the Irish Hotels Federation submitted such a scheme to the Department or to Bord Fáilte. Did Bord Fáilte rubber stamp, amend, pass through or perhaps not see at all, the scheme of the Irish Hotels Federation? Did Bord Fáilte put forward another scheme themselves? If so, do they differ from the Minister? The fourth point in the Minister's scheme is as follows:

Priority will be given to the extension of existing hotels over the construction of new hotels, and new hotel construction in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Shannon, Killarney and other major conurbations with a substantial tourism/business base will not qualify for grants.

Anybody who tries to book a bed in a hotel in Dublin knows there are not enough beds there. Anybody—and I have frequently got complaints about it—who tries to book a bed in a hotel in Cork at any time of the year mid-week will know that people sometimes have to travel 12 to 15 miles outside the city to be accommodated. Yet the Minister's scheme—and it is his own scheme and not Bord Fáilte's—proposes that centres with a substantial tourism/business base will not qualify for grants. There must be some rationale behind that. Somebody must have a reason for putting in that paragraph. I read in the papers that there are three very big new hotel blocks contemplated for the city of Dublin, one near the airport, one in Earlsfort Terrace and one in Clarendon Street. Perhaps there is a good reason why none of these should be grant aided. Perhaps the Minister knows something about the companies or the financial structures of these three major hotel proposals. That I do not know.

Debate adjourned.
The Dáil adjourned at 5 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 July 1979.
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