Vol. 435 No. 2
6 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if the Government intends to establish a National Entertainment Committee to ensure quality entertainment for our tourists; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
26 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if the Government intends to establish a National Entertainment Committee to ensure quality entertainment for our tourists; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 6 and 26 together.
The provision of both evening and day entertainment facilities is an important element of the tourism product. In this context the question of establishing a national entertainment committee, was recommended by the Tourism Task Force.
It is my intention to have this idea examined further within the deliberations of the new national tourism council.
As it is now almost a year since this report was published, will the Minister accept that he is slow in making a decision? Does the Minister agree that much of the entertainment being promoted as being traditional is entertainment we have imported from countries such as the US? I am sure the Minister will agree that Americans will go to Nashville to hear country and western music rather than to Ireland. Has the Minister any policy on entertainment, having regard to our national music and others forms of entertainment, with a view to ensuring that quality is given at all times to tourist and people in general?
The question of an entertainment committee was raised with the Tourism Task Force. It is primarily a matter for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, which is considering the matter. I intend to have it raised with the newly-established Tourism Council in order to get their views. We could have a long discussion on entertainment but it would be better to see what the Tourism Council has to say about it and to seek proposals from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. It is not something I lie awake at night worring about.
Pending a decision on the national entertainment committee, will the Minister confirm that tourists in search of country and western entertainment are perfectly welcome in the visitors' gallery of this House?
Of course.
