I wish to share time with Deputy Farrelly.
Tourist Traffic Bill, 1998: Second Stage (Resumed).
Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
Is that agreed? Agreed.
How can the funding provided under this Bill best be used? I suggest the number of information and advice services be increased in addition to the technological advances in signposting, which I mentioned earlier. I hope the same type of technology will be used to make tourist information accessible in a broad network, particularly to non-urban areas which may not have the same structures as the larger towns and cities. There have been complaints from people who have tried to visit Bord Fáilte offices after office hours. Given that tourists arrive at all hours and are probably in more need of assistance outside office hours than during the day, it is important that an accessible number, a helpline and an information line are always available.
I was struck by what Deputy Eoin Ryan said regarding our tourist services abroad. When in New York on holidays a few years ago it was pointed out to me that sometimes the tourist and information offices which promote travel to Ireland, particularly among the Irish-American diaspora, are not situated in the communities attracted to that type of tourism. Locating such an office in mid-town New York may not be as beneficial as locating it in Queens where there is a large number of Irish people. That point was made by people who live there. They suggest, from a practical point of view, that we concentrate on information networks and easily accessible offices in areas of traditional Irish-American neighbourhoods because more people are tracing their roots and are attracted to a better and brighter Ireland than that which their ancestors left. Deputy Ryan commented on the part our embassies could play. Perhaps our tourist and information network can be looked with a view to reaching more people.
Many speakers referred to the need for grant funding for CERT and other training, work practices and minimum wages for people working in that area. Given that tourism is fast becoming our principal industry we have to reward, acknowledge and give status to those who work in that area. A well paid and highly qualified staff reflect a confidence and an image of Ireland which is part of what Ireland is about. Badly paid, contract, part-time workers may not think it is worth the effort. Because of the various needs of staff, including those in the satellite areas of our tourism, further grant funding should be looked at. A real attempt should be made by tourism interests, hotels and so on to train their staff in the productive use of technology, computers, websites and so on. Given that we are attempting to attract international tourism we should make an effort to include languages in staff training. We all applaud the idea that languages should be included in primary and secondary level education. Yet, only a small number of people who have languages enter the tourism industry full time. An essential requirement should be that those entering the tourism industry have at least one or two continental languages. There is nothing more frustrating and loss-making on both sides than not to have a certain number of staff available to interpret and communicate in a given language.
An increasing number of people complain about the supplement charged to those who wish to have single room accommodation. There are many advertisements for great weekend breaks but the prices quoted are per person sharing. A great number of us do not wish to share accommodation. Part of the break is that one would have single accommodation. This is an inhibiting factor. The supplement for single accommodation is much too high. In a society where an increasing number of single people travel as well as many others who do not wish to be coupled together forever, this is a problem for which there is no relief.
I thank Deputy Barnes for the opportunity to say a few words on the Bill.
I am chairman of the Meath tourism promotional company and I want to make some points which are relevant and important to the development of tourism in the east.
A decision was made in last year's budget to exclude a number of counties from further hotel development, in other words, that the Department of Finance would not provide extra incentives to people who wanted to provide hotel bedrooms in those areas. That was a very unfair step, given that although Meath is close to Dublin it is not in the lucrative business of huge numbers of bed nights and hotel bedrooms. I would appreciate if the Minister would do something about that.
The Minister's two predecessors promised that tourism promotional companies would be grant aided to some extent. Ours is a small company — as is the one in County Louth — but it is growing and doing a very good job in regard to accommodation, food, golf and so on. We are spending £200,000, which was hard earned with the help of Leader, the county council and the tourism providers themselves, but we are getting no help from the State. East tourism is getting help, but the actual county tourism promotional companies are getting no help.
Does the Minister intend doing anything about unapproved accommodation? He has run away from it as if it were the plague, as every other Minister has done.
I am disappointed that a person in Oldcastle who applied under the European fund for tourism development to provide accommodation for people with disabilities has been refused. I know that is not directly part of the Minister's bailiwick, but the committee which decides on the funding has not seen fit to grant aid this project, although the person was promised locally that funds would be made available.
I wish to share time with Deputies O'Hanlon and Matt Brennan.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
This Bill affords us in the north-east an opportunity to speak about the tourism industry, particularly in County Louth. Deputy Farrelly has just finished outlining the needs of the industry in County Meath.
An advantage of by-election campaigning is that one discovers how important the tourism industry is to local economies. The more I travel around the country canvassing, the more I learn that counties in the north-east, such as Louth and Meath, are not benefiting to the extent they should from the development of the tourism industry, which is very strong in the west and south. However, we hope that, with the end of the Troubles in the North — the last 30 years have been traumatic to say the least — Border counties such as Louth, Monaghan, Meath and Cavan, in tandem with counties North of the Border such as Armagh, Down and Antrim, will take their rightful place in the sphere of tourism development on the island.
Members who have had an opportunity to visit parts of Louth, particularly the Cooley peninsula, and have travelled northwards into south Armagh, south Down and Antrim, will realise the enchanting beauty of those places. It would be a great pity if the tourism industry in that area were not to develop and play its role in the development of the local economies.
It is proposed under the British-Irish Agreement to have an all-Ireland arrangement for the promotion and development of tourism. That sector is a perfect example of how an all-Ireland approach will bring clear and tangible benefits to the economies of North and South. The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation has done an excellent job since his appointment 16 or 17 months ago. The idea of developing a worthwhile project on the site of the Battle of the Boyne outside Drogheda has been mooted for some time and some thought has been given to it in various Departments. I hope it is decided to proceed with that project because, apart from encouraging further reconciliation on the island, it also has a very important historical dimension. I am not suggesting it can be developed cheaply — it will obviously cost some money — but the site exists and has historical significance for the country.
There is obvious goodwill and support for this project North and South. I hope it will be seriously considered as one of the projects addressed by the millennium committee because it would be very worthwhile and a major shot in the arm to the development of tourism in Counties Louth and Meath. The Westferard development group is doing excellent work. It is an upgraded tidy towns committee which is catering for a fairly wide geographic area in rural south Louth. It is more than anxious that this project go ahead. I ask the Minister and his Department to give serious consideration to that.
Many speakers referred to the issue of signposting. There is nothing more frustrating or irritating for people going to a new area than the lack of adequate signposting. The tidy towns committee in County Louth regularly contacts us to complain about the inadequacy of signposting in remote corners of the county. I realise it is expensive for local authorities to provide signs and that they are occasionally vandalised. However, if we are serious about tourism development, it is vitally important to get the signposting right. We may have to provide more resources to local authorities for that purpose.
Tourism is, by its nature, a seasonal industry. The investment cost in providing bed nights is quite significant and a short tourism season — which one might well have in our part of the country — could be demanding for providers operating on a tight budget. I know there must be uniform policy across the country. However, if we were to occasionally audit the expenditure of enterprise boards and Leader programmes we might find we could direct some of those funds to providing accommodation for one or two years in areas where there is a clear deficit.
I thank my colleague, Deputy Kirk, for allowing me to share time. I compliment the Minister on the hands-on and common sense job he is doing in the Department. It is appropriate that in this Government sport and recreation were added to the Department of Tourism because they are an integral part of what we have to offer tourists. Marketing is of considerable importance and it is important we continue to market our products well.
I visited the IDA office when in Taiwan and asked the lady who manned it about the most frequent inquiries she got. She told me the two most frequent inquiries were about tourism and education. Unfortunately, there is no facility in the IDA office in Taiwan to provide the type of detailed information which would be useful to people wishing to come to this country as visitors to learn or improve their English. I suggest the Minister ask his Department to contact all State offices around the world to ensure they are well briefed on what we have to offer in terms of tourism. Perhaps the Minister for Education and Science would do the same, although I am sure this is appropriate to this Minister's Department. The people who come here to improve their English are also tourists. There is a tremendous market in this area.
From the vibes I received abroad and from what was said to me in a number of countries, people prefer to come to Ireland to learn English because it is a nice country to come to for a few months. That is an area at which the Minister might look. In terms of Taiwan, perhaps the lady who mans the office and who is Taiwanese might be brought to Ireland for a couple of months to let her see what we have to offer so that she would be better briefed.
We have a very clean environment and it is important we keep it that way. We have clean air and water and we should do everything to ensure we maintain our clean environment not only for tourists but, most importantly, for those who live here. Some Deputies referred to the pollution problems in Dublin caused by traffic and so on. We should keep pollution to a minimum and maintain our good environment.
Another subject of interest is sunshine. There is a view that too much sun is damaging. We should sell, as one of the features of Ireland, the fact that the sun will do one no damage here. There is a swing away from holidays where people are over-exposed to strong sunshine.
I fully agree with Deputy Kirk's point about signposts. Signposting is essential not only for tourists but for ourselves. I was travelling through the North one night after the Omagh bomb and there was a detour which placed us right into the heart of rural County Tyrone. However, at every minor crossroads there were four signposts. They were placed there permanently and not only for the diversion. It struck me that if somebody got lost in the heart of my county, it would be difficult for them to find their way out.
I received one positive comment from a former member of the US Congress who visited me while I was on holiday in County Donegal. He was very positive about the signposting, the fact there was so little of it and that many of the signposts were turned in the wrong direction. He had time on his hands and said that the bad signposting had brought him to places he would not have seen otherwise, so he was not complaining. I do not believe that is a good recommendation.
There is no doubt but that the peace agreement will do a tremendous amount for the country, particularly the Border areas. I do not have to say anything to the Minister about the Border areas because he has been to the forefront in promoting these areas and improving relations on both sides of the Border. There is an opportunity in this regard. We must look at the marketing of the country as one unit, particularly in the Border area, including my area which does not have a great tradition of tourism.
County Monaghan is very much linked with south Armagh where there has been phenomenal development, assisted by the different agencies. In my home village, that in which I was born, a £1.6 million cultural activity centre has been established which is doing very well. We are very much interlinked with Cavan, Inniskeen, the lakes, fishing and the east Border region. There is a great opportunity for joint marketing here.
Will the Minister take an interest in the reopening of the Ulster canal? Recently, a feasiblility study was produced on this project. It is not unrealistic and would make a tremendous millennium project. We all know the benefits of the Ballyconnell-Ballinmore canal. As a cross-Border project, the Ulster canal would be very successful. I wish to put the following question to the Minister. If five million tourists arrived in Dublin airport on the same day, what would Bord Fáilte do to channel 1 per cent to Cavan-Monaghan, which have very good facilities to offer but where there is no tradition of tourism? It is very hard to get tourists to come to these areas.
I welcome the Bill and compliment the Minister on the great work he has done in the tourism area in his short time in office. I listened with interest to the Minister's speech on the Bill in which he proposes to increase the statutory limit on the amount of Exchequer grant aid which may be paid to Bord Fáilte to support tourism capital development work. The Minister gave the House a detailed and comprehensive account of the need to increase the statutory limits as set out in the Bill.
Tourism is our second largest industry, with more than 120,000 people employed in it. The importance of tourism to the economy cannot be over-emphasised. I compliment Bord Fáilte and its workforce on the great work they are doing and congratulate the 120,000 people working in the tourism industry. People are extremely nice here and that helps the tourism industry.
I welcome the Minister's proposal to introduce a regional dimension into the international marketing policy of Bord Fáilte. I am confident this policy decision will be of particular benefit to less well known regions. I come from a region which is even less well known than the Minister's county. I was in Killarney during the summer and was amazed at the number of buses outside the hotels. One might see one or two buses outside hotels in Sligo. We are probably not selling our beautiful lake, the Lake Isle of Innisfree, half as well as the Killarney lakes. It is wonderful to see the number of tourists in the south and south-east. The Minister's efforts with regard to the regional authorities is a step in the right direction.
The tourism industry must undergo a cold war. One is always fighting for tourism and the range of facilities offered is vital. In recent years, hotels have offered facilities all year round and this is wonderful. The Minister is aware of how the Border region has suffered over the past 30 years up to the British-Irish Agreement. I thank him for making grants available to the seven Border counties and County Mayo to build new hotels. This tax free incentive is a step in the right direction and I welcome it. The grants will help tourism no end in the west.
Deputy O'Kennedy mentioned rail links. Although we would prefer if the trains were better, there is an excellent link between Dublin and Sligo. A hotel in Sligo does very well as a result. It offers a good deal to visitors of approximately £90 for three nights bed and breakfast and three evening meals.
Nice touch, Deputy.
Many senior citizens get the train from Dublin to Sligo and stay in the hotel for a mid-week break. It is excellent that it is so cheap and I welcome it.
There are three airports in the region, Knock, Sligo and Carrickfin in the Minister's constituency of County Donegal. If an aeroplane flew from Dublin and stopped in Knock, Sligo and Carrickfin to drop off and pick up passengers, many more tourists would come to the west. The majority of people like to travel quickly and that is why the south is doing so well. Knock Airport is in an excellent location. It has one of the best runways in Europe and can accommodate aeroplanes of all sizes. The only problem is the cost of fares. It is much cheaper to fly from Dublin to various parts of Europe than from Knock.
Other speakers mentioned signposting. More must be done in that regard. If one is travelling from Sligo, there are no signposts for Knock. I hope this matter will be corrected.
I compliment Deputy Brennan for his good advertisement for the local hotel. He must give me the name of it before the House adjourns.
Many of the points made during the debate were interesting and positive. Much praise and recognition was given to the various changes that have taken place in recent years. However, I do not intend to be as complimentary.
I am sorry to note that the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, for reasons which may be best known to the Minister, is one of the three Departments from which it is difficult for Opposition Deputies to get answers to parliamentary questions. The three Departments often give responses to the effect that the relevant Minister does not have responsibility for a particular matter. This does not give a good impression to the Opposition and it is not a good idea from a Minister's point of view to have a culture growing in a Department that the Opposition should be given as little information as possible. This is dangerous.
So far as the development and marketing of tourism is concerned, the most important aspects from the customer's point of view is good quality service, high standards, good presentation and good value for money. If those objectives are achieved and combined in a single package, half the battle is over. Unfortunately, those attributes are not always combined. The quality of service has improved immensely in the past ten years to the extent that it is barely recognisable now. I compliment the hotels, restaurants and guesthouses throughout the country which now provide a high quality of service which is comparable to anything available elsewhere in the world. This is how it should be; we should not be second class because we have the ability to be first in the field.
Much can still be done in the area of presentation. It leaves much to be desired everywhere. If one goes to a town or village in any part of the country and looks over the bridge at the end of a main street, one is likely to observe a number of plastic bags, a supermarket trolley, if not two, one or two prams, the wheel of a bike and the handlebars of another bike in two separate locations. This presents a bad image of any area. I did not see anything like it in any other place in Europe I have visited. It gives an awful image in what is otherwise a good package.
If one drives along a country road during the summer, one will find weeds about six feet high leaning out across the road. A number of speakers referred to this matter. Local authorities no longer cut the weeds, particularly giant hogweed which is the most famous and also dangerous. I do not understand why nobody has ever suggested that people get together, discuss the matter with the Department of the Environment and Local Government and the local authority and do something to improve presentation in that regard. This applies to most parts of the country, with one or two exceptions. It is a serious problem. Will the Minister examine it and consider whether he can co-ordinate the efforts of his and other Departments with a view to addressing this matter.
The tidy towns competition has been very effective and useful in improving the presentation of various towns and villages. However, perhaps the format needs to be reconsidered because an incentive to small towns and villages to come from way down the list and achieve something which can be built on the following year is lacking. Areas which are already developed and presented to a high standard have a distinct advantage. The competition needs to be reconsidered with a view to identifying ways in which each town and village can best present itself. I do not suggest the competition should be discontinued, but an incentive should be offered directly to towns and villages which are starting off.
Good value for money is important. This aspect has also improved immensely. The value for money available now was not even dreamed of 20 years ago. I compliment hotels, restaurants, guesthouses and pubs in that regard. Occasionally one meets someone who is in the rip-off business. The trade is the best way to police this problem. One person ripping off tourists is enough to give the whole area and business a bad name. There are ways of addressing this issue and the Minister should give it his attention. Some 99 per cent of service providers are conscious of the competitive nature of the business and do a brilliant job. However, one will always get the 1 per cent who does not.
Some speakers have mentioned signage. Sherlock Holmes would have difficulty finding some of our towns and villages. Worse still is the misleading information caused by people turning signposts in the opposite direction. One can travel for ten or 15 miles only to come across another signpost indicating that one should have gone in the opposite direction. The simple way to deal with this problem is to use square instead of circular pillars which cannot be so easily turned.
As a former member of an Oireachtas committee I have to say that information was not so readily available from the Department via parliamentary questions. I hope to see an improvement in this area. Responsibility for angling is spread across a number of Departments. However, the Minister's Department is in the tourism business and tourism means attracting people by one means or another. More salmon were caught in the Moy fisheries in the past 12 months than in all of Scotland. Surely the Department should be able to obtain that information and use it in a positive way to ensure that the fisheries are developed, assisted and marketed. The product will sell itself. That is just one example concerning fresh water fish, and considerable work has also been done on coarse fishing in the past few years. This is an example of where Departments could beneficially liaise to ensure that efforts are made to co-ordinate activities.
I wish to refer to the vista which tourists see when travelling throughout the country. Considerable successes have been achieved in this area but much needs to be done. We must recognise the damage caused by eye sores, such as car scrap yards. There is legislation to deal with this problem but we should resort more to the carrot than the stick to address this issue. There have been some improvements but many problems remain. I have referred to cans and bicycles in rivers. A greater interest is being taken in canals and this is welcome. Canals are better maintained than rivers which need that kind of attention. Will the Minister liaise with other relevant Departments so as to co-ordinate efforts?
Tourism is about successful marketing. One's ability to sell a product for consecutive seasons depends on a number of issues. One of the most important is that if the person to whom the product is being sold is satisfied in the first instance, they will tell someone else. If they are not satisfied they will tell a different story. All other aspects referred to by speakers are important and form part of the package presented to the visitor. As visitors leave they will look back. Everyone who has been to a foreign location will always recall their thoughts as they left the country. Were they satisfied with the service? Was the location clean? Were the standards high and would they return? Whatever one's thoughts are when one leaves a location will determine whether one returns.
The Minister should not rest on his laurels. We wish to give constructive criticism. The points raised by speakers need to be attended to and not put on the long finger. If we deal adequately with a fraction of these issues, tourists will look back and will want to return.
Everyone welcomes the increase in the Vote for capital expenditure on tourism. We all envy the Minister in his lovely job in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation. What did the Minister, and his predecessor, Deputy Kenny, do to deserve that job? Unfortunately for the Minister he does not play golf. If he did he would be involved in all the pro-am classics. He would have the life of Reilly. Listening to this debate must be the toughest part of the Minister's job. There are good and bad jobs in Government, but the Departments of Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Foreign Affairs must rate as the best.
It is not all that the Deputy believes. I have to deal with drugs and other such issues.
Are we sure that some of these drugs are not intended to knobble our athletes or rugby players rather than enhance their performance? A medical person such as the Minister could answer that question. They do not always seem to have the desired effect. We do not condone their use. It is a bombshell but I congratulate Neil Francis who was not afraid to raise this issue. To a large extent he uncovered this problem as did others in swimming.
Will the Minister indicate how the £15 million will be spent? I have always found that funding was not available for a person who wished to expand an hotel. Funding for bedrooms was excluded. I would like to know what precisely the £15 million covers; it is a sizeable amount of money and could not be invested in a better area than tourism. It will only be a short time before tourism becomes our major industry, superseding agriculture.
The figures the Minister has outlined in regard to the visitor numbers and expenditure on tourism are awesome. The number of visitors to this country has increased in the space of nine years from 2.4 to five million. That is a tremendous increase. A total of 120,000 people are employed in the industry. I note that in the first six months of this year, the figures are running 11 per cent ahead of target. Earnings from foreign tourism have jumped by 370 per cent in the space of eight years, making tourism the fastest growing industry in the country.
I have heard a peculiar complaint from some hotel managers, namely, that they cannot get trained staff. In a country with in excess of 250,000 unemployed that is difficult to believe. Hotel owners are recruiting employees from France, Spain and other continental countries. That is probably a reflection on the extent of the black economy in Ireland as well as of the current economic boom. Some people are not prepared to work for a particular wage unless they are being paid under the counter and many genuine people seeking work are unable to secure it. A certain type of worker is required in the hotel industry; the work would not suit everybody.
One of the hotel training management schools is located in the Minister's constituency in Killybegs. Some hotel managers and owners feel that graduates are not entering the business here, possibly because they find more attractive outlets in the UK and Europe. If that is true, it is a serious state of affairs. We should do everything in our power to channel trained and qualified people into the Irish tourism industry. Perhaps the Minister would comment on that.
The reason for the explosion in tourist numbers is due to the availability of cheap airline fares for the past ten years due to deregulation. When I hear people criticising independent companies such as Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and others which have transformed the industry in this country I get very annoyed. They may have their shortcomings and some of their chief executives may be somewhat precocious but they get results.
Debate adjourned.