Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 2

Written Answers. - Computerisation Programme.

Rory O'Hanlon

Question:

402 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the schemes and supports available from his Department or agencies under the aegis of his Department to schools, businesses, community groups and individuals, to promote information technology including (i) greater awareness of relevance, (ii) to develop skills and (iii) have access to computers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22105/00]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid):

My Department and the agencies under its aegis are very conscious of the benefits of information technology and the agencies in particular have been actively promoting its benefits to the various sectors.

In the tourism sector, Bord Fáilte is now in the process of finalising an extensive Internet strategy review, in conjunction with key industry representatives, with a view to maximising its web presence by moving to encourage and capture as many visitors as possible and assist the industry in converting enquiries ultimately into business transactions.

Meanwhile, in March of this year, CERT announced its e-commerce initiative "dot-cert" which consists of an ongoing awareness campaign and a series of nation-wide workshops which focuses on helping Irish tourism businesses to exploit the marketing and cost effective potential of e-commerce. One set of workshops focuses on demonstrating the advantages of the web and how to implement e-commerce principles for greater business efficiency while the second set of workshops focuses on exploiting the web in the best possible way, suitable to individual businesses. The initiative opened with a series of eight workshops attended by 120 participants. The autumn series of workshops has just commenced and these will be run throughout the country. It is anticipated that between 150 and 180 industry personnel will attend.

In support of this initiative CERT has also developed its own "dot-cert" website that provides industry with user friendly material designed to raise awareness of the benefits of e-commerce and how to implement e-commerce in practice. Additional information on e-commerce best practice will be added to the site over the next 12-18 months. The site is currently under reconstruction and will be available shortly. As part of the awareness campaign over 5,000 establishments received a publicity leaflet introducing the "dot-cert" website and the training workshops.

All training courses delivered by CERT include a module on new technology, the content of which is updated periodically to take account of the impact of changes at operational level within each area of the industry.

The Irish Sports Council's scheme for funding national governing bodies of sport includes provision for incentives for investment in information technology hardware and software in the context of improving administrative efficiency for their respective organisations and members.