I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter on the Adjournment. He will be aware that my Government colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy McDaid, has already outlined on a number of occasions in recent weeks the position regarding the impact of foot and mouth disease on the tourism and hospitality industry and the action taken to ameliorate the situation. The Minister has dealt with this matter on three separate occasions on the Adjournment, in a Private Members' motion, in two appearances before the Joint Committee on Tourism, Sport and Recreation of which the Deputy is a member, in a statement in the Seanad and in two separate parliamentary question sessions. He is a busy Minister.
While official CSO figures for overseas visitor numbers and revenue earnings for the year to date are not yet available, I understand from Bord Fáilte that latest industry estimates put total losses in tourism earnings incurred through cancellations and through lost bookings since the onset of the foot and mouth disease crisis at £225 million. This figure comprises £175 million in respect of foreign earnings and £50 million in domestic business.
Without taking into account the beneficial impact of the measures I will outline later, potential losses of out of State tourism revenue in 2001 could, according to Bord Fáilte, be as high as £500 million, with additional losses in domestic earnings of the order of £140 million, depending on market conditions and performance for the remainder of the year. Let us hope these estimates turn out to be pessimistic.
As a result of the foot and mouth disease crisis, Bord Fáilte's target of 6.6 million overseas visitors for the year 2001 will be extremely difficult to achieve. However, I understand the chairman of Bord Fáilte has set as a current objective, which he sees as challenging in itself, the achievement of a similar level of performance as last year.
The Government target for tourism growth as set out within the framework of the national development plan is for an average annual increase of 5% in foreign exchange earnings over the period of the plan up to 2006. Given that the performance in 2000 was well ahead of that target, there are no plans at this stage to revise it.
The Minister, Deputy McDaid, and the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation have worked closely with Bord Fáilte and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation since the onset of the crisis to ameliorate the adverse impact on the tourism and hospitality industry. Taking on board many of the suggestions put forward from the industry, we have taken a range of measures to deal with the situation, including the following ten specific actions.
The first action is encouraging the tourism and hospitality industry to support the national campaign to minimise the risks of a spread of foot and mouth disease through the application of appropriate control measures and disinfectant procedures. They have worked reasonably well and we still aggressively pursue this.
The second action is setting up structured arrangements to ensure the views of the industry are taken on board, especially when decisions are being made on the application and modification of control measures. The Minister and the Department are represented on the Government task force which has convened regularly under the chairmanship of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh, to review measures to prevent the spread of the disease. In addition, a separate high level tourism action group under the chairmanship of the chief executive of Bord Fáilte and including key representatives of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation and the Department has been established to monitor foot and mouth situation on a continuous basis. This group has met twice weekly to manage actively issues affecting tourism business already booked and to limit any medium to long-term damage to the industry's image and prospects overseas.
The third action is pressing strongly for a phased modification of the control measures and restrictions in so far as they affect tourism and in line with the emerging risk. We must take into account the situation in Northern Ireland. This action helped to bring about the welcome easing of the restrictions on a range of events and activities in the tourism and sports areas in line with the advice of the technical expert group established by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Deputy Walsh.
The fourth action is seeking the phased re-opening of key State cultural and heritage attractions to allow a full and varied array of facilities to be available to visitors. All these attractions are now being re-opened by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands and Dúchas in line with advice from the technical expert group and under the direction of the Minister, Deputy de Valera.
The fifth action is arranging, through the Bord Fáilte Tourism Ireland website, the associated call centres and other websites to ensure regularly updated information is available to visitors and the trade about major attractions and events which are open to the public.
The sixth action is issuing a clear message that Ireland is open for tourism business and that, subject to taking appropriate precautions, Ireland remains a welcoming destination for international visitors, including visitors from Britain. This message has been delivered clearly and unequivocally by the President, Mary McAleese, the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, and the Minister, Deputy McDaid.
The seventh action is pressing for an easing of the restrictions on the movement of people within Ireland in line with advice from the technical expert group to help the accommodation sector especially. This has included strong encouragement to the commercial, business and State sectors not to cancel or postpone seminars, conferences, meetings and training programmes.
The eighth action is successfully securing the lifting of the ban on angling.
The ninth action is appealing to banks, financial institutions and the Revenue Commissioners to be as sympathetic as possible in the case of any tourism business experiencing temporary cash flow difficulties arising from the foot and mouth disease crisis. This appeal drew a very welcome response from the Irish Bankers' Federation on 30 March last when it indicated its members' commitment to give careful and sympathetic consideration to requests for support from those business customers who encounter financial difficulties. The Department of Finance has also confirmed that, in so far as certain cash flow problems arise for individual businesses, Revenue will, as part of normal arrangements, look sympathetically at payment arrangements on a case by case basis.
The tenth action is putting together and rolling out a major tourism marketing reassurance campaign, the initial phase of which is under way with special media advertising in all key markets, trade reassurance measures and special promotional visits. Details of the campaign, including the actions envisaged in key markets, are available directly from Bord Fáilte. The campaign, which has been costed by Bord Fáilte at £10 million and in respect of which £8 million in funding is already in place, has been designed in full consultation with the tourism industry.
