Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 29 May 2001

Vol. 537 No. 2

Written Answers. - Tourism Industry.

David Stanton

Question:

360 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 328 of 6 March 2001, he will state the progress which has been made regarding the negotiations taking place with the European Commission regarding the tourism product investment scheme; if the detailed guidelines for project promoters have been finalised by Bord Fáilte and his Department; if not, when such guidelines will be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16266/01]

Michael Creed

Question:

365 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the financial assistance which is available to assist small family run hotels to expand by providing additional accommodation and conference and banqueting facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15715/01]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 360 and 365 together.

My Department does not provide direct grant-aid for tourism product development. Bord Fáilte Éireann was the implementing body for such schemes under the Tourism Operational Programme 1994-99, with decisions on grant approval being made by an independent product management board. A similar arrangement will be in place, for the period of the current national development plan, under which I was able to obtain a commitment of £100 million for a tourism product development.

The new tourism product investment scheme will be administered via the tourism measures of the regional operational programmes. The overall objective of the scheme is to develop the tourism product in a sustainable way that widens the spatial spread of tourism, diverts pressure from highly developed areas and increases the under-performing regions' share of overseas tourism revenue.

There is a general consensus that the focus of public investment in tourism projects must be to enhance the potential of less developed tourism areas by supporting the development of signifi cant attractions or clusters of attractions in such areas.

Hotels, of course, continue to benefit from the capital allowance scheme, under which capital expenditure on any building or structure in use as a hotel or holiday camp, registered with Bord Fáilte, may qualify for capital allowances. Beneficiaries are entitled to claim a maximum 15% capital allowance in years one to six and 10% in the final year. As recently as February last, the Irish Hotels Federation, in its Blueprint for the Future – a strategic review and recommendations for the Irish hotel and guesthouse industry, affirmed that capital allowances remain the most important form of incentive available to hotels.

I appreciate the contribution that small accommodation providers, including small hotels, have made to Irish tourism and I recognise the need to encourage and develop the sector. An initiative, targeted primarily at the small accommodation provider, has been launched whereby Bord Fáilte carried out a fundamental review of how the various groups in this category were branded and marketed overseas with a view to increasing overall business, particularly in off-season times and in rural areas. Almost £1.4 million has been set aside for this initiative to date and it has considerably expanded the range of support offered to the sector, thereby developing the marketing capabilities of the operators themselves.

Detailed guidelines for project promoters, on the new scheme for product development, have been drafted by Bord Fáilte, in consultation with my Department. Meanwhile, the scheme is still being examined under the State aids rules by DG Competition of the European Commission, to whom the scheme has been formally notified as required by the relevant regulation.