This Bill as Senators will have noticed has for its purpose the authorising of advances to the Irish Tourist Board to a total sum in excess of that provided in the Act of 1939. That is the sole purpose of the Bill and presumably, therefore, effective discussion of the proposal will take place on this stage. The Bill is not one that lends itself to Committee Stage debate, having, as I say, that one purpose. The Irish Tourist Board was set up under the Act of 1939 but owing to the outbreak of the war its activities since its establishment up to date have been very considerably curtailed. In fact, when the war began it was considered necessary to suspend activities by the board almost entirely. For a period, the board maintained only a nominal existence with a skeleton staff which was engaged upon certain preparatory work. After a period, however, it was decided that some wider activities could be authorised, particularly with a view to having prepared by the board plans for the development of holiday resorts and similar schemes which would be useful in providing employment in the immediate post-war period. The board prepared a number of such plans and submitted them for approval in accordance with the provisions of the Act and approval was, in fact, given in a number of cases.
The necessity for this Bill arises, not because the actual expenditure which the board has undertaken has exceeded the amount authorised under the 1939 Act, but because the total expenditure involved under the approved plans is slightly in excess of that sum and it is considered desirable that the authority of the Oireachtas should be obtained through the enactment of this measure before further plans which the board have in contemplation are considered.
During the years up to 1944 the board was exclusively engaged in the preparatory work to which I have referred, in planning the various resort development schemes and to a limited extent in the acquisition of property for the purpose of such schemes. The only actual work undertaken by the board was at Tramore where the work which the board had in contemplation was begun earlier than might otherwise have been the case because of the request from the Army authorities to the board to assist in providing suitable employment schemes for the men of the Construction Corps. The work at Tramore was in fact carried out by the Construction Corps.
In 1944 the part of the Act dealing with the registration of hotels was brought into operation. Senators will remember that the Act gave the Irish Tourist Board control of the word "Hotel" and of the term "Guest-house" and only premises which were registered by the board as hotels or guesthouses could be so described. To secure registration certain standards in accommodation and comfort must be maintained. That part of the Act was brought into operation in 1944 and was actively applied in 1945 though on account of circumstances obtaining last year the standards sought by the board were necessarily less exacting than those which the board will usually apply. It will, I think, be recognised that last year it would not be reasonable to require hotels to install equipment and carry out improvements because of their inability to secure suitable supplies.
In addition to preparing resort development schemes and bringing into operation the hotel registration provisions of the Act the board also acquired certain properties suitable for development as hotels. They acquired them with Government approval because these properties were available at the time and it did not appear probable that private enterprise was ready to develop them. I have explained elsewhere that it is the intention of the board and the policy of the Government so far as the development of hotels is concerned to rely entirely, or almost entirely, upon private business enterprise. The properties which have been acquired by the board and which are now being developed as hotels have been transferred by the board to a company which it caused to be formed and which is only a temporary arrangement, the intention being that shares in the company will be ultimately offered to the public. The various properties, whether they continue to be managed by this new company when transformed into a publicly owned company, or disposed of to other private firms will not be the direct concern of the board. I have always considered it a necessary part of the whole scheme upon which the 1939 Act was based that the Irish Tourist Board, as such, having direct responsibilities for the supervision of hotels, should not be actively engaged in the hotel business. The main work of the board, the work for which the money provided by this Bill is required, is the development of holiday resorts. The board receives advances under the Act for the purpose of expenditure on holiday resorts only when it certifies, and when its certificate is accepted by the Government, that a particular scheme is of a profit-making character. The board is required to confine its activities to schemes which are of a profit-making character, which will enable it to recover the whole of the expenditure, and to repay the amount of the advances to the Exchequer. The normal procedure of the board in meeting that obligation is to acquire properties at holiday resorts, and having acquired a property to proceed to develop it by the construction of public amenities of one kind or another, thereby endeavouring to increase the value of the property which it has acquired and to put itself into a position to dispose of it by sale or lease to private firms willing to take over the property to develop it for any commercial purpose.
The progress made along these lines to date has not been considerable, first of all, because the board was not permitted actually to embark upon schemes of that kind in the abnormal circumstances of the war years, and secondly, because the preliminary steps necessary to ensure the proper development of the lands required by the board often involved delay. If it is necessary to acquire property the board has been given certain powers of compulsory acquisition but they decided to avoid, if possible, the use of those powers. Even if they decide to use their compulsory powers—and in some cases it will be necessary to do so—the procedure laid down by the Act does not permit of the rapid transfer of the ownership of the desired property to the board. Secondly, it will be obvious from the very brief picture I have given of the board's method of working that, in every case, the co-operation of the local authority is essential. The development of any holiday resort area is not practicable unless water supply, sewage services and similar public services are provided by the local authority. In a number of cases, the resort development schemes which have been planned by the board are awaiting the consent of the local authority to provide these services.
The board has submitted and secured approval for proposals for resort development at a large number of centres and perhaps the Seanad will be interested to obtain particulars of these projects for the purpose of illustrating the nature of the plans which the board is elaborating. At Ardmore, the board has purchased the lands, buildings and effects of the Irish college and is arranging for the internal reconstruction of the college. The total cost of that project will be about £10,000. In that connection, I might mention that one of the obligations placed upon the board by the Government was to give special regard to the development of facilities for holiday-makers who might wish to combine their holidays with the study of the Irish language, by ensuring that facilities of a suitable kind existed in the Irish-speaking areas. In some cases, these facilities may be provided by private companies or other authorities assisted by the board, and in other cases directly by the board itself.
At Arklow, in County Wicklow, the board has acquired certain properties and proposes to undertake their reclamation and development. There may be some difficulty in completing the plan of the board at Arklow, owing to problems associated with the character of the property, but the board has a development scheme for Arklow which involves a total expenditure as at present planned of about £27,000. At Bundoran, the board has acquired a town park, recreation centres and buildings and is proposing to undertake expenditure which, including acquisition, will amount to about £25,000 on the development of the property as a recreation centre.
At Garryvoe, the board has made a loan to an operating company for improvements. At Glengariff, it has acquired some 300 acres and proposes to develop the area for the provision of recreation facilities to a cost of about £10,000. There is a similar scheme for Kilkee, involving expenditure of about £20,000 and a scheme for Killarney involving acquisition of property and construction of a sports club, pavilion and restaurant, to a total cost of about £25,000. The board has made an advance to the Lisdoonvarna and Rooska Spa Wells Trust for certain development works in connection with the spa and has acquired the Queen's Hotel at Lisdoonvarna which it is developing in connection with the general scheme for the improvement of the facilities at Lisdoonvarna and the attraction of holiday traffic to it in connection with the spa. At Portmarnock, County Dublin, the board has acquired St. Marnock's house and lands. The scheme involves the transformation of the house into a hotel, provision of roads, levelling of sand-hills and the construction of recreational facilities.
At Rosses Point, it has acquired certain property and it is proposing also to develop recreational facilities. There is a scheme also for Skerries, involving the acquisition of ground for an amusement park and the provision of general recreation facilities. That scheme may not be proceeded with, as it seems possible that private enterprise will undertake the development work which the board had in contemplation.
At Tramore, to which I referred already, the total cost contemplated by the board amounts to £114,000. It includes the acquisition and conversion of properties and the development of sites, so as to provide recreational facilities appropriate to a popular seaside resort. There is also a scheme for Youghal, involving the acquisition of a site and its development so as to provide hot sea-water baths and recreational facilities, as well as suitable areas to be leased for the operation by private enterprise of cafés and restaurants.
In addition to those I have mentioned, the board has acquired Ballinahinch Castle and lands and also the fisheries at Recess. That property is being transferred to the hotel company which the board has established and will be developed by that company as a hotel. Similarly, the board has acquired property at Courtown, County Wexford, of a similar character, which is being developed as a holiday hostel and as a hotel. I mentioned also that St. Marnock's is being developed as a hotel, having been transferred to the hotel company to which I have referred.
The board also acquired a house and lands in Newtown, County Louth, which is being transferred to the hotel company, and which will be developed as a holiday resort with hotel accommodation.
The total value of all the schemes which have been approved as at present planned, amounts slightly to over £1,000,000. It is contemplated also, that the board will now proceed on the lines generally intended when the 1939 Act was being framed, in affording financial accommodation to hotel proprieters who desire that accommodation for the purpose of improving and enlarging their hotels. It is not clear that any number of hotel proprietors will, in fact, desire to obtain or need the board's assistance for that purpose, or, at least, need it to the extent which it was originally considered they might in 1939.
If, however, hotel proprietors require the aid of the board, the board will be in a position to grant them that aid. I have stated already that the provision of better and increased hotel accommodation must be undertaken mainly by private business concerns, and in so far as it is obviously desirable that the available hotel accommodation should be enlarged and improved, it is necessary to provide some assistance through the board for hotel proprietors, that need is covered by the Act.
At present, hotel accommodation at holiday resorts is completely inadequate to serve the needs of our own people, and assuming that these resorts will be more largely patronised in the future as a result of the work done by the board in improving them, it is necessary that private enterprise should not be dilatory in following up the board's work, by extending and improving holiday accommodation. I expressed the view in the Dáil that it may have been a mistake to have called the Irish Tourist Board by that name in the Act of 1939, the Tourist Act, because it appears that to some people the word tourist is always associated with tourists from abroad. It is, of course, to be expected that in present circumstances throughout the world a number of holiday-makers from other countries will desire to come here and that position may continue for a time. I have, however, tried to make it clear that in present circumstances, we cannot possibly hope to cater for any substantial number. The hotel accommodation does not exist, and the Tourist Board has in fact been confining its activities in that regard to advising persons in other countries not to come here, unless they are sure of having hotel accommodation arranged in advance. In future years, when conditions are more normal, we must, I think, make an effort to attract holiday-makers from other countries. That is a form of export business developed in a number of countries, and which before the war was increasing in volume very rapidly indeed. We have got facilities here which would be attractive to holiday-makers of a particular kind. We cannot provide all forms of holiday-facilities, but, taking advantage of our circumstances, it is clear that we can secure a substantial share—a significant share—of that business and by doing so add considerably to the national income and secure a revenue which, relative to our own resources, will bear comparison with that obtained by other European countries from that trade in the pre-war years.
The improvement of traffic facilities throughout the world has been going on since the emergency ended, and it is to be expected that holiday traffic will continue to increase for a long time to come. I hope, however, that the future possibilities of the tourist business as ordinarily understood, will include a continued development of the holiday habit which has been growing among our own people. It is not merely that those who in the past ordinarily ceased work for two weeks or more in the year have been inclined to spend their holidays here, and can be induced to spend their holidays here in greater numbers if the facilities are attractive, but the enactment of legislation concerning holidays for workers and the growing movement to provide longer holidays, will also create a situation which calls for action on the part of the Government as well as private enterprise, to ensure that workers will be able to get adequate and reasonable holiday facilities within their resources. One of the obligations of the Tourist Board is to procure the development of or to develop itself, holiday hostels, and holiday camps, where attractive holidays at seaside resorts or inland areas can be provided at low cost and in circumstances which will permit of enjoyable and healthy holidays by those patronising them.
It will be understood that the board cannot take immediate steps to that end at the moment owing to the scarcity of materials, and particularly of the type of equipment required to make these holiday camps and hostels suitable and adequate for the needs of those using them, but plans to that end are being prepared, and with the enactment of this Bill, the Government will be in a position to give approval to any suitable plans which the board may prepare and submit to it.
I think what I have said covered the greater part of the board's activities and future intentions. Many of these individual resort plans could be described in detail, but I do not think that is necessary. I should imagine that the Seanad would require just a general indication of the type of work it has in mind and the general methods by which it proposes to proceed.
In addition to the advances repayable to the board under the Act of 1939 which represented the amount the board will invest in these profit making resort development schemes, the board also receives by way of grant by annual vote of the Dáil, an amount to cover its administrative expenses. In the present year, the total amount granted will be £38,000, of which £18,000 will be expended on general publicity and advertising and which represents part of the board's general work which cannot be made directly remunerative by any scheme. The balance of the advance, £20,000, is expended by the board on staff salaries, rent, rates and establishment charges in connection with its premises, and on furniture, bedding, travelling expenses, and similar normal items of expenditure.
On the assumption that the Oireachtas which approved of the Bill of 1939, will be anxious that the Tourist Development Board should now get into activity along the lines contemplated in 1939, and that the wider the field of its work and the larger the number of resorts in which it can be enabled to carry out schemes, the better, this Bill will offer no difficulty to the Seanad. The actual expenditure by the board for this year, and probably even for next year, may not reach the total of the advances fixed by the 1939 Act. We might, therefore, have postponed the introduction of this measure for a period, although it would have been, perhaps, doubtful practice for the Government to approve in principle of projects which would ultimately involve raising the total of the advances to the board above the limit fixed by the Act without prior consultation with the Oireachtas. It was decided, however, that even though the expenditure had not reached the limit fixed in 1939, the Bill should have been brought forward. I would have preferred if it were possible to postpone bringing the measure forward here until it would be practicable to judge in a more concrete form the results of the board's work. At present it has nothing more than plans. The board has acquired properties in certain areas, but it has not yet under taken the development of these properties adequately.
It is, perhaps, unsatisfactory from the point of view of members of the Seanad that they should be asked to increase the limit fixed in the 1939 Act without having the opportunity of seeing, in a precise detailed way, the nature of the work which the board proposes to do. In a year or two there should be more visible evidence of that work. The Seanad will, of course, understand that even the resort development schemes which will be begun this year will, in most cases, not be begun until after the present holiday season. It would be undesirable, and from the point of view of private persons engaged in the provision of holiday facilities objectionable, to have large-scale construction works proceeding during the holiday season itself. Therefore, the commencement time for most of the board's schemes which have reached the point where construction work could begin is fixed for October or November next when the holiday traffic will have ceased. The aim of the board will be to carry through these schemes, as far as possible, and to round off the construction work in connection with them before the holiday season for 1947 begins.
I think I have now given the Seanad the information which it desires to enable it to consider the Bill. I will be glad to supplement that information when concluding the Second Reading discussion if it is desired.