Willie Penrose
Question:40 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation his Department's legislative priorities for the remainder of the 28th Dáil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2545/02]
Other Questions. - Legislative Programme.
My current legislative priorities are for the drafting of two bills, the Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Authority Bill and the National Tourism Development Authority Bill.
In July of last year, the Government approved the drafting of the Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Bill which will provide for the establishment of a statutory authority to oversee the planning and development of a sports campus including a stadium at Abbotstown, County Dublin. Work is now at an advanced stage in the drafting of this Bill.
Last November, Government approval was given for drafting the National Tourism Development Authority Bill. The authority will promote the development of sustainable tourist facilities and services including the promotion of training, human resources and marketing skills development in the tourism industry and other functions currently carried out by Bord Fáilte and CERT. Work on the drafting of this Bill has begun.
Last year was a difficult one for tourism and many related issues need to be addressed. I was disappointed to note that the National Tourism Development Auth ority Bill is scheduled for mid-2002 because this Dáil will be dissolved in the first quarter of the year. Serious tourism issues need to be addressed, yet the Bill will not be taken in this session. That is disappointing. The Campus Stadium Ireland Bill will not be taken in this session either. Sport and tourism are not being taken seriously. The Department has not introduced legislation since 1999. That does not show a great interest in the tourism industry, in Campus Stadium Ireland or in the issues the Minister proposes to address in the National Tourism Development Authority Bill.
My Department does not introduce a large number of Bills. I have not heard it said before that Bills are responsible for bringing tourists to the country or for increasing Exchequer funds.
That is not what I said.
A Bill is only legislation. The idea was to set up Tourism Ireland Limited, which we did on time. We gave it the largest ever budget of 27 million. An additional 11 million was given to me for Bord Fáilte by the Minister for Finance in the budget. We put 6.35 million into festivals and cultural events, which has been unheard of in the history of the tourism industry. We also increased the funding for the sports tourism initiative from 6 million to 7.5 million to attract major sporting events into the country. I could go on about what was done to try to deal with a difficult year in terms of access and of bringing in extra money for marketing and for events in the country. However, I have not heard it said before that a Bill to set up an authority has anything to do with the initiative or the problems of 2001.
Today we received the Government's legislative programme for the spring session which clearly indicates that the Campus Stadium Ireland Bill will not be published until mid-2002. However, the Dáil session will be over by then. Does the Minister expect it to be published before the big day in May? Will it receive its Second Reading in the House before that date?
I hope the Bill will be published and introduced in the House.
When?
As soon as the Bill is ready. We are currently in discussions. The Bill is at an advanced stage.
We cannot have an improper question and answer session.
Will it happen in this Dáil session?
The Minister does not seem to realise what is included in the National Tourism Development Authority Bill. There is more to tourism than attracting tourists, namely, the staff who work in the industry, the facilities and the infrastructure. The Bill deals with those issues which must be addressed.
A question please.
I ask the Minister to introduce the Bill as soon as possible because there are difficulties in that area of tourism.
I assure the Deputy I will introduce it as soon as possible. However, the Deputy must remember that we only managed to get Tourism Ireland Limited launched on 7 November last. There was then a discussion at Cabinet to merge these two areas of Bord Fáilte and CERT. Meetings had to take place between the board of CERT and the workers in CERT and in Bord Fáilte. When we got the green light from both chairmen that it was possible, we brought the merger proposal to Cabinet where it was agreed. We are currently working on the Bill. I agree with the Deputy that we need to do everything possible to assist the tourism industry. The development authority will be responsible for tourism activities in 2003.