Vol. 526 No. 5
108 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the current position regarding the next operational programme for tourism; if the criteria for funding and product type have been decided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27094/00]
I have secured in excess of £350 million for tourism measures under the national development plan. As tourism will not have a dedicated operational programme, these moneys will be spread across a number of operational programmes-productive sector OP – £150 million for tourism marketing, employment and human resources development OP – just over £100 million for tourism training – and regional operational programmes for the BMW and south and east regions – £100 million for tourism product development.
While the various OPs remain to be agreed with the EU Commission, I can give an indication of how I have proposed that the tourism funds should be spent. It is proposed that the tourism marketing sub-programme, with an allocation of £150 million, will consist of two measures, a destination marketing measure and a niche marketing measure. Decisions as to the allocation of funding under this sub-programme will be a matter for Bord Fáilte in consultation with the tourism marketing partnership, which is composed of Bord Fáilte executives and tourism industry representatives.
Tourism training is dealt with under the employment and human resources OP which will have three training measures to be implemented by CERT, including sectoral entry training for school leavers, sectoral entry training for persons who wish to re-enter the work force and ongoing sectoral training for persons already employed in the tourism industry.
Support for tourism product development will be made available under the tourism measure within the two regional OPs. Bord Fáilte will be responsible for the implementation of three sub-measures, that is, major attractions and clusters, special interest activities and tourism and the environment. Detailed operational guidelines for the tourism measure are being prepared at present by Bord Fáilte in consultation with my Department. These guidelines will incorporate a public call for proposals. Project proposals will be assessed by Bord Fáilte and the decision-making in terms of grant approval will fall to independent product management boards as was the case under the tourism OP. Funds will be allocated on a competitive basis rather than a first-come-first-served basis.
