Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 16 Apr 2003

Vol. 565 No. 4

Written Answers. - National Conference Centre.

Joan Burton

Question:

15 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on reports that a person (details supplied) is willing to fund the development of a new national conference centre; if his Department has studied the proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11028/03]

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

16 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the up to date position regarding the provision of a national conference centre, in view of the number of international conferences this country is losing at the moment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11044/03]

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 16 together.

As I informed the House on 26 February last, proposals as to how the national conference centre project might best be progressed are being finalised. A project of this scale, complexity and cost requires very detailed and careful examination with the result that the consultation process with other Departments is not yet completed. It remains my intention to bring the matter to Government as soon as possible.

I have seen the reports referred to by Deputy Burton, and, indeed, had a brief meeting last year with the person in question during which he outlined his plans for further development at his existing facilities in Dublin West including the provision of general conference facilities. While detailed specifications were not provided, I would point out that consultants appointed by Bord Fáilte to carry out research on the optimum positioning of Ireland in the international conference market recommended that a national conference centre should ideally be placed in or near the city centre with appropriate links to accommodation, transport and other facilities.

While I have no doubt that a dedicated national conference centre would be a desirable addition to our international conference infrastructure, there are no statistics available as to the actual amount of business that may have been lost to Ireland due to the absence of such a facility. What we do know is that the number of overseas conference and corporate meetings visitors to Ireland in 2001 – the latest year for which figures are available – at 118,000, was worth an estimated €177 million to the economy.

The last ten years or so have seen dramatic developments in Ireland's stock of general conference facilities. However, physical conference infrastructure is only one part, albeit an important one, of optimising Ireland's share of the international conference market; marketing is the other. In this regard, I understand that Bord Fáilte, in conjunction with the Convention Bureau of Ireland, is continuing to work closely with its industry partners to attract conference and meetings business to Ireland and together they are making every effort to increase our share of these lucrative markets.