Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 2 Feb 1994

Vol. 139 No. 1

Tourism Policy: Motion.

Mr. Fahey

I move:

That Seanad Éireann commends the Minister for Tourism and Trade on the positive impact of his policy for the development of tourism; and urges the Government to continue with an increasing investment in tourism as the most efficient way to economic growth and job creation.

I welcome the Minister on his first visit to the House. Tourism has the potential to bring about the most significant growth in the Irish economy. This fact has not been recognised by senior politicians or public servants in the past. The Minister has recognised this potential and has succeeded in a short time in putting in place positive action to see this potential realised. I applaud him for his achievement in removing the "Cinderella" tag from the industry.

In 1987 we saw the start of the development of the tourism sector and since then the Government has begun to appreciate the growth potential of the industry. This has resulted in considerable increases in Government expenditure and investment. The return on the Government's investment is there for everybody to see. It has resulted in £1.3 billion in foreign revenue and an increase of 24,000 jobs and £800 million capital investment in 350 new development projects. This is a good start, but only just the beginning. Under the stewardship of the Minister, we have seen the industry get a real shot in the arm. It is characteristic of the man that he saw the possibilities for economic growth and job creation and very quickly put together a strategic plan to release the industry from the shackles that have impeded it for so many years.

The establishment of the tourism council has brought together for the first time key players in the industry. This group will play a critical role in putting an end to the haphazard unco-ordinated approach of the past. It will play a key role in the synchronisation of various interest groups in the industry. This unity of purpose is vital for achieving results. The Minister's identification of adequately funded marketing as the key factor in driving the industry forward is, as it were, putting the finger on the button. The attitude of senior politicians and public servants to public expenditure on tourism marketing in the past has been to view it as an expense rather than an investment. This narrow minded approach stifled the industry in previous years. There is no logic in refusing to spend a pound if it can make a pound, or, as in the case of tourism marketing, many more pounds.

It is for this reason that the Minister's initiative to put together a new fund of £3 million for a direct hard sell campaign in the United States is exciting and without doubt will bring about the desired result. The projected benefit is a 17 per cent increase in visitor revenues from the United States. This represents upwards of 52,000 additional visitors from the US, giving at least 500,000 additional bed nights. It will create 1,000 new jobs as well as extending seasonal employment and giving a projected annual additional £10 million in gross tax revenues to the Exchequer.

It is also a wonderful achievement for the Minister to have received an additional £5 million for marketing in the recent budget. The Government are to be congratulated on their foresight in making this significant amount of money available. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Ahern, deserves credit for this and other decisions in the budget, namely to improve the regulations for hotel owners in regard to inheritance tax and also to improve the capital allowances from 10 per cent over ten years to 15 per cent over six years. I ask the Minister to give us some indication tonight as to how this money is to be spent and I urge him to concentrate on the European market and on the off season period.

The budget shows that this Government recognises the progress the industry has made and its potential to go much further. However, we are still in my view only scratching the surface in terms of what tourism can achieve for the Irish economy. I am convinced that our economic future lies in tourism and the service industry rather than in manufacturing industry or agriculture. At very best we can only hope that manufacturing industry will hold its own in terms of jobs and that agriculture can achieve something similar.

Despite what the Government has done to date, there is great potential to do much more. I want to outline to the Minister a number of measures which must be put on the table for consideration in the coming year. We spent the last three days announcing the creation of 500 jobs in Galway by Boston Scientific. It is a wonderful achievement to get such a company and it is a welcomed by every Galway politician. However, its impact on the Irish economy pales in significance beside the achievement of Seán Quinn and the impact of his hotel, the Sliabh Russell in Ballyconnell, County Cavan. In that project, he has made an investment of £20 million. There are 115 people employed on a full-time basis, together with 60 part time jobs. The project only received 3 per cent of the capital cost, somewhat more than £600,000, in Government grants. There was not much excitement about the hotel. Had the Taoiseach not gone to open it we probably would not have known about it.

When I first visited the hotel, my impression on trying to find the place was that there could not be much of a hotel in the middle of nowhere. How wrong can a person be. It used to be nowhere, but it is now the centrepiece of some of the most beautiful rolling Ulster countryside which is becoming known to thousands of people in Ireland and much further afield. Some 62,000 people stayed in that hotel last year. The hotel has transformed the whole region. It has brought enormous spin-off to all kinds of businesses and economic activity in that part of the country. The sad fact of the matter and the point I am trying to illustrate is that there are few Seán Quinns in this country. It is only somebody like Seán Quinn or indeed Noel C. Duggan of the Millstreet Equestrian Centre who can put such facilities in place in rural Ireland.

The problem is that we politicians do not take the hotel sector seriously. We seem to have a jaundiced view of hotels, their contribution to the economy, the quality of the employment they offer and the amount of profit they make. That is evident from the number of cowboys who tried to get into the sector when it appeared under the BES that there were some soft opportunities in that area.

It is time that we as politicians accepted that a hotel employing 20 people is a far greater economic benefit than a factory employing a similar number. Hotels put 87 per cent of their sales revenue back into the economy. For every two jobs in a hotel there is a further job created in other sectors. Hotels contribute more to GNP than manufacturing industry, with foreign revenue having a particular impact on GNP. Hotels are the engines of growth in the industry. For that reason it is economic suicide to charge a hotel 40 per cent corporation tax where manufacturing industry enjoys a rate of 10 per cent.

The Irish Hotels Federation, whose chief executive, Mr. John Hogan, is here today, has for years called upon the Government to extend the 10 per cent rate of corporation tax to hotels engaged in the provision of international services. This year they have put forward a very reasonable proposal to introduce investment allowances to encourage hoteliers to reinvest in their premises and also to allocate 50 per cent of their retained profits to improve marketing campaigns abroad.

Penalising hotels with a 40 per cent corporation tax is the most regressive form of taxation. Reducing it to 10 per cent to correspond to manufacturing industry would immediately release a new wave of investment and economic activity, unequalled by any other change in taxation. The fall-off in revenue to the Exchequer would be made up in a few years because the 40 per cent corporation tax has gone past the point of diminishing returns. I know the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Deputy McCreevy, feels the same as I do and I urge him to continue his fight for this change. I appeal today to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance to take cognisance of the logic of this proposal.

The cost of car hire is another deterrent to the development of the industry. We are out of line with our main competitors in Europe. The cost of a class A car in Ireland is £259 per week, compared to Portugal which is £88; Spain, £99; Jersey, £136; Scotland, £199; and Florida, £130. This cost must be reduced as it is a negative factor, especially in the shoulder periods. The reduction in the vehicle registration tax given in the 1993 budget had the effect of reducing the weekly rental cost of a car by 8 per cent. This should be repeated this year in the Finance Bill and it should be continued on an ongoing basis. The lost revenue would be regained by the increased number of new cars required for hire.

While we have considerable capital investment in the industry in recent years we still lack major infrastructural development, for example, all weather facilities such as tropical water facilities which are comparable to those in the rest of Europe. If we are to succeed in developing a 12 month season and short breaks, which the Minister considers a priority and which is possible if we take the correct action, then we must put such centres in place, especially in the traditional tourist areas of Donegal, Connemara and Kerry.

Such projects have high capital costs. However, there is a significant amount of international mobile investment which is being attracted to other countries. We have no proper mechanism to attract such investment here. It seems ridiculous that the IDA travels the world in search of manufacturing investment which is becoming more difficult to find, yet it cannot talk to a major player in the tourism leisure sector who could invest in such projects. I am talking about companies as Centre Parks in Holland which has 15 such centres throughout Europe, including Sherwood Forest near Nottingham in England where it invested £70 million. Centre Parks considered this country, but they were not able to deal here. I propose that a joint venture between the IDA and Bord Fáilte should be allowed to attract such projects with the same range of incentives as the IDA offer to manufacturing industries.

One of the Minister's and Bord Fáilte's priorities is to extend the season. I take this opportunity to compliment the Bord Fáilte executives for the great work they do in promoting Ireland. Direct access from Europe into the west through Shannon is critical to this development. While scheduled services from the ten major European cities would not be viable in the short or medium term, a structured charter service two or three times per week could be viable if it was underwritten by Government and industry during its infancy and if the required marketing finance was made available over a three year period. It is an area which could be considered for the £5 million which was announced recently.

When we consider the off-peak offers to European travel agents by Ashford Castle and Dromoland Castle — £89 per room for two people, which includes bed and breakfast, and £25 for dinner — there is no reason why such a luxurious vacation should not become the most sought after in Europe. Access is a problem. This must be addressed, particularly as Paris is the only place being served by Shannon at present. This offer is in contrast to the best commercial single rate of £75 per night in a four or five star hotel in Paris or Munich. It is clear that if we could provide direct access at competitive rates then we could rejuvenate our winter and off-peak season. The lack of such services into Shannon from Europe is a greater impediment than the perceived loss which the industry in the west became upset about when the Shannon stopover ended.

I hope the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Cowen, and the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Deputy McCreevy, will look at developing all year charter services into Shannon. This would enable hotels to stay open all year round and give continued employment, even if profits in the off-peak period were non-existent. The Minister's policies have had a positive impact on tourism development. The most efficient way to economic growth and job creation is to increase investment in tourism.

Mr. Cassidy

I second this motion. It is nice to see so many distinguished faces in the Visitors Gallery.

I concur with Senator Fahey, particularly on the point he made about the 10 per cent corporation tax rate for the hotel industry. I am directly involved in this industry and it is a crippling factor which is stifling investment and expansion. As Senator Fahey said in his well researched contribution to the House, this is an area with potential for jobs and growth. There are opportunities for young people and for training. No other industry requires the same amount of training on an ongoing basis or gives school leavers the opportunity each year to become involved in a training service. I asked a colleague before Christmas if he could tell me where I could get a good hotel manager. He laughed and said he would not tell me even if he knew where to find one. This highlights the opportunities which exist in the hotel trade at present.

I also agree with Senator Fahey in his remarks about all weather tourist activities. The Government and the EU are not doing enough in this regard. Our tourism trade lasts five or six months. However, projects such as those developed by Centre Parks, which Senator Fahey mentioned, and all weather activities such as visits to museums have not been seriously considered by Bord Fáilte. We have great potential and we should consider what can be done in relation to these activities.

VAT is also stifling those who need to expand. Little dividend has ever been received by investors because moneys are reinvested. Tremendous work was done in this country by the pioneers who went to America and saw the facilities which were required. The late Mr. P.V. Doyle, in particular, did a lot of work in this area. Many people are employed by hotel groups in their own communities.

I agree with the comments made about the Ballyconnell development which is only a few miles from where I live. This is an area where there were no jobs a few years ago. It is great to see the investment from Mr. Sean Quinn's empire going back into his local area and creating employment for the people in west County Cavan.

Tourism is the area of economic activity which has the most potential to raise revenue and to generate employment. Ireland has a range of traditional strengths, including the friendliness of its people, the beauty of its scenery, the richness of its cultural heritage and the quality of its environment. Over the past four years we have seen the expansion and improvement of our tourist facilities and this has added a dynamic new dimension to Ireland as a tourist centre. This has created further opportunities to increase our market share and develop new markets.

However, despite this growth there are still many other challenges to be faced and opportunities to be grasped. No one knows this better than our own Minister for Tourism and Trade, Deputy McCreevy, who, through his energy and commitment to developing the tourism industry, has shown that this Government has a vision for tourism that will provide up to half the net growth in the economy over the next five years. That fact demonstrates the importance of that industry for the economy.

Nowhere is this Government's commitment to tourism more clearly demonstrated than in the National Development Plan which aims to achieve an increase of 50 per cent, in real terms, in foreign tourism revenue by the end of 1999. It also aims to secure a much wider spread of tourism income throughout the year. The plan aims to create up to 35,000 jobs, 6,000 of which will be in construction and associated capital works, with the balance in the tourism sector including arts and culture. Total investment under the heading of tourism will be over £580 million, which is undoubtedly the largest ever injection of investment in Irish tourism. That is the Fianna Fáil commitment to tourism. Elements of this development include specialised tourism such as activity holidays and language learning. We have one such language college just three miles from my own home in Castlepollard, at Coláiste Clon Lir an Chúil where Spanish, German and French, along with Irish, are taught to the younger generation. In addition, our own generation can update their language skills there. The plan also provides for a national conference centre in Dublin for these new facilities which are so badly needed, with the emphasis being on culture and heritage.

Last week saw the publication of a most positive and far-reaching budget. It was a caring budget with a range of social welfare increases and additional resources for health and education. It was a pro-enterprise budget with a range of incentives to encourage enterprise and cut through all the red tape we have unfortunately experienced over so many years. It was a pro-employment budget with no less than 20 specific measures designed to promote employment. It was also a pro-tourism budget, as the Minister pointed out, that will lower the costs of the tourism industry and encourage investment as well as providing an additional £5 million boost for promotion. The end result will mean more jobs. Among the pro-tourism measures contained in the budget are an improvement in capital allowances providing an immediate benefit to Irish hotels resulting in greater investment and, consequently, more jobs. The budget contains a special £5 million sum to promote and develop tourism in 1994 which we must all welcome. Promotion and marketing are two of the key priorities in building up a successful industry and this is a particularly welcome measure. The Minister will be unveiling details of this plan shortly and I look forward to its swift and successful implementation.

I would like to mention also the forthcoming World Cup football competiton which offers us a unique opportunity to promote Ireland on the global stage. Various Government departments and State bodies will have a significant role to play in promoting the country at this time. Recognising this, the Minister for Finance allocated £150,000 in last week's budget towards the cost of co-ordinating promotional events connected with the World Cup. This is too valuable an opportunity to be dealt with in a haphazard manner. We will not have this chance again for a long time and so we should treat the run up to the World Cup like a well organised campaign with clear goals. I propose that a World Cup action plan should be put in place detailing a rolling series of complementary actions taking place both here and in the United States, designed to maximise the benefit to Ireland. This would require tremendous co-ordination and effort on all parts but it would pay off at the end of the day in promoting tourism and jobs here. As we all know, we have terrific ambassadors in our football team and our band of supporters are well liked throughout the world. Let us support them to help benefit Ireland and put this action plan in place.

I have admired the ability the Minister for Tourism and Trade has displayed over the last number of years. He has been given a very challenging portfolio which can create an enormous amount of jobs and help the economy to grow. This promotion and investment in tourism can take place under his skilful guidance. I am glad to second the motion before the House.

Mr. Howard

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

"condemns the failure of the Government to (1) provide sufficient resources for marketing Ireland abroad; (2) ensure sufficient funds for a major investment in non-national roads especially in high priority tourist areas; and (3) provide family run hotels with grants from the next operational programme for tourism for the upgrading and extension of accommodation."

I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him every success. In the limited time available I would like to make a number of general comments on tourism, an expanding industry. With that expansion come opportunities for the creation of many jobs. Tourism is also expanding worldwide but Ireland's share is not keeping pace with world growth and, in fact, the gap is widening.

A number of bottle necks to growth in tourism have been identified as follows: the short season; expensive car hire and coach tour costs; expensive petrol and drink; and the poor condition of many roads in tourist areas. In addition, we are uncompetitive in spring, early summer and early autumn with holidays in sunnier climates. We have, however, many advantages that can attract more visitors here but our promotion leaves a lot to be desired. As Senator Fahey said, many promotional efforts are being made which are local, small and unco-ordinated. Too often, one area or product is competing against another and the national impact is therefore lost. There is a need to combine efforts and create an overall structure that serves Ireland first and local activities and products second.

The role and effectiveness of Bord Fáilte should be examined. It has been regarded as successful by some people in some areas of the industry but it is an expensive organisation. It has an excellent propaganda machine but there are some who feel that that machine is too often used to justify Bord Fáilte itself and to explain away some of its shortcomings. Bord Fáilte's major effort is in the United States' business and up-market tourism sectors. Fewer of its activities are devoted to the European and ordinary tourist markets, yet all the indications are that the greatest potential for growth exists in these areas. Bord Fáilte does not enjoy an excellent standing with many people in the tourism industry, particularly the small operator and family-owned business. These are matters that should be addressed by the Minister.

In relation to marketing, Senator Fahey spoke of the achievements of Seán Quinn in County Cavan. I want to refer in a parallel way to the achievements of another hotelier, Jim White in Lisdoonvarna, who does his own promotions in mainland Europe, Britain and Northern Ireland. Over the past few years he has consistently filled 500 bed/nights from mid-March to November in his hotels and other establishments in north Clare. People like Jim White, Sean Quinn and others who are successful in tourism have experience and expertise in the promotion of that product. The Minister should avail of that expertise and experience to a greater degree when selling Ireland as a tourist destination.

I welcome the recent scheme of grants which will be paid to farmers to maintain and improve the condition and appearance of their farmyards and fields. The Irish countryside is largely unspoiled and peaceful and has received favourable comment from many of our overseas visitors. I was in Austria some years ago as a member of a parliamentary delegation and one of the major Austrian concerns about joining the EU was whether they could maintain the grants they pay to farmers to continue living on the mountains. They felt that the presence of the farmers on the slopes ensured that the countryside remained landscaped; they used the term "landscaped". They believed that the landscaped appearance of their countryside was vital to the success of their tourist industry. At the same time I realised that our policy in relation to some of our most scenic areas was to cover them with a blanket of forests or to let the rushes and scrub run wild. That contrast in attitude represents the difference in success between ourselves and the Austrians in developing the tourist product.

I wish to refer to the village of Doolin in County Clare. It is a remote village, an outpost on the western coast. However, it enjoys, international recognition for traditional music and Irish dancing. I visited the village last Saturday and, although it was the middle of winter, there was a surprising level of activity there. Cars with registrations from Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Dublin were to be seen. I do not believe Bord Fáilte or any other agency is selling Doolin. If they were I wonder what traffic would be there. However, it shows there is a vast market for culture, heritage and family roots. We are not exploiting that to the extent we should. The activity I saw in that village could be replicated in many other villages throughout Ireland if the effort was made.

I will now refer to the changing type of visitor from the United States. In previous years these visitors either stayed with relatives or hired cars and drove around the country; they stayed in hotels or in bed and breakfast establishments, they ate at roadside restaurants and they visited local pubs. Such tourists are now virtually non-existent. Their replacements are now met at the airport. They are loaded onto buses and are driven from one designated hotel to another. At all times they are under the watchful eye of the tour guide. They are not permitted to enter shops or pubs unless those premises have a prior agreement with the guide or coach driver to pay a straight commission on the purchases made by the tourists. These tourists spend their holidays in virtual captivity. They are not permitted to go to places of their choice and they never meet the real people of Ireland. They make little or no contribution to the economy of the small operator.

The system of counting tourists arriving in Ireland is worthy of comment. In the opinion of many in the tourism business the figures are the biggest con job of all time. The numbers are simply not there. The system should be scrapped and replaced by one that is believable and which reflects true tourist numbers.

I wish I had more time to discuss other aspects of this matter. I am encouraged by the constructive nature of the discussion so far. However, I will revert to a subject which I raised on the Order of Business today. I want to protest the Office of Public Works proposal to slaughter two-thirds of the Burren goats.

Mr. Cosgrave

Shame.

Mr. Howard

These goats are a tourist attraction. They have roamed that territory for centuries; they are unique to it. They are regarded as a protected species. Hippies who, a few years ago, trapped and cooped a few of the goats were heavily fined and threatened with jail. When there was concern that some of the goats were being captured and exported to Northern Ireland squad cars circled that territory day and night and the practice stopped.

A few years ago fears were expressed that the numbers had declined to a dangerous level. A group concerned about their survival was established and a campaign was launched to sponsor a goat. A woman who visited me at the weekend had responded to the campaign and paid £24 to sponsor two goats. Their ears were duly tagged with her name and they are now roaming free. However, she was angry and concerned that some bloodthirsty bureaucrat in the Office of Public Works had decided to shoot her two goats.

An Cathaoirleach

And you are muzzling greyhounds.

Minister for Tourism and Trade (Mr. McCreevy)

Racing goats.

Mr. Howard

There are two main objections. The standing of the Office of Public Works is poor in many areas of the Burren for certain reasons and if this unnecessary slaughter goes ahead, the reputation of the Office of Public Works will be beyond redemption. The reason advanced for this unnecessary cull is that the area is being overgrazed. If it is and the goats are removed, what will be next? The people who farm the area believe the sheep and their livestock may be the next targets of these individuals.

Mr. Cosgrave

New sponsors needed.

Mr. Howard

I would like to have had more time. I regret that I found it necessary to raise a parochial subject but it has implications which should be borne in mind.

Mr. Cosgrave

I second the amendment. I welcome the Minister for Tourism and Trade. We have been friends and colleagues for a number of years and we share a mutual interest.

An Cathaoirleach

Which is not goats.

Mr. Cosgrave

I wish the Minister well. This is a useful time to discuss an important issue like tourism, an industry which has created about 25,000 new jobs and of which the Government demands the creation of another 35,000. There has been a certain reluctance on the part of the Government, and on the part of the Department of Finance in particular, to put the industry on a level playing field in relation to taxation reliefs, capital allowances and the level of investment by the Government. Some of those matters were addressed in the recent budget, particularly in relation to tourist coaches. However, the Government's level of input has fallen short. Although the Minister will welcome the extra £5 million for his Department, I wonder where that money will be spent. The Minister should tell us exactly where the money will be spent.

There is no doubt that the industry can be developed and expanded in many areas and that it has been affected by the problems in Northern Ireland. We hope the present talks on the joint declaration will bring about the desired result. The troubles, both there and here, have caused losses to the tourism industry.

It is the State's duty to invest in marketing, promotion and advertising to create the improved awareness of Ireland that is necessary to encourage more people to visit this country. We must look at the question of extending the season. For a tourist industry to flourish it is necessary that the country's infrastructure keeps pace with the high quality demanded by our visitors, particularly by improving — as stated in the amendment — the county roads. That brings to mind the problem of our over-priced car hire. The Minister must look at that problem and seek a better return for the tourist.

At times the Government seems to forget that a new hotel, golf course or leisure centre provides tangible jobs. While great efforts are being made at present to attract industry, and we wish them every success, particularly in getting industry in Galway, the same force should be given to recognising that real sustainable jobs can be provided by tourism. It is one of the few sectors where there is real scope for further development. The Government paid a certain amount of lip service to this in its Programme for Government and many in the industry are gravely concerned that the deeds of the Government and the Minister do not match the fine words in the National Plan or in ministerial speeches. I do not doubt the Minister's personal commitment to the industry but more can be done.

It is also important when the Minster gets the £5 million that it is not allowed to gather dust at a time when the money should be spent on promotional activities and on productive marketing abroad. At present the tour operators are launching their own brochures and backing them up with advertising. I was interested to hear what Senator Howard said in relation to the packaging of coach tours. We have also seen attractions such as the interpretative centres developed.

I hope that the serious matter Senator Howard mentioned regarding the culling of the goats is given attention. Where will this stop? Will it end up with the horses on the Curragh if we do not cry stop? I am glad Senator Howard has brought this matter to the attention of the House.

There is no doubt that we cannot compare our country to places which have the sun, such as France and Spain. We must carve out different niches in the development of golf and leisure centres, and other industries such as hunting and fishing. The lack of investment in certain areas of fishing must be examined and the serious problems which have arisen with sea trout. I welcomed the announcement some time ago by the Minister for the Marine that substantial moneys will be devoted to building up the fishing industry, including fishing in inland waters. I understand from people on the ground that there is no indication these resources will be devoted to employ management expertise to supervise, monitor and protect these fishing resources. The present state of the sea trout fishing sector underlines the shortsightedness of such an approach and I ask the Minister to investigate this sector. Some of our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, while free from pollution, are not being developed to their full potential.

It is important that our environmental laws are strong and that the Environmental Protection Agency has teeth and that it ensures that environment programmes are well developed to support the tourism industry. Standards must also be maintained. Many entrepreneurs who have been successful in various parts of the country have been mentioned this evening. From the biggest hotels to the smallest bed and breakfast accommodation the highest standards should be maintained.

Another matter which must be looked at is that of costs and pricing. In many respects there is tremendous value in this country, but there are some areas where this is not the case. In particular, I would mention some restaurateurs who will, so to speak, kill the goose before it has laid even one egg. I would ask the Minister to appeal for a sense of balance so that tourists are not ripped off. We recognise the great potential of the industry and we must all work for it and support the efforts of Bord Fáilte. While Bord Fáilte is not without certain faults, I would hope that it will get the Minister's support and that he will meet with it with a view to expanding the industry and ensuring that the necessary promotion and marketing takes place.

The American market has changed, and Senator Howard is right in saying that we have to look at other markets. We can make greater inroads into the English market and into short stay breaks, and target the European market. We must also try to attract back those who travel to the Continent from here. It would also be worthwhile to consider those who come here as au pairs because if an impression is made on them they will return as tourists at a later date, hopefully with their families.

I ask the Minister to take on board what I have said regarding the promotion of tourism. I have no doubt about his personal commitment to tourism and I hope that in his battles at Cabinet he will secure a better result so that all of us can benefit. The main priority must be to get more people in work and more visitors coming here which will lead to greater prosperity.

Mr. Calnan

I welcome the Minister to the House for this discussion on tourism, which is extremely important for our country. I support the motion complimenting the Minister on the positive impact of his policy for the development of tourism. It is an endless task to develop tourism properly because of the many possible avenues for development. We need large investment in tourism because economic growth and job creation are most important.

I would like to speak first about economic growth and the disadvantaged and peripheral areas in the country. With set aside and quota restrictions, people will have to find varying ways of earning a proper income in the disadvantaged areas. I come from the south-west and I am aware of the position in the disadvantaged areas there with young people leaving the land, land being sold and parishes decimated. In some cases it is not even possible to field a football team.

We have tremendous potential for the development of tourism. On the physical side we have the mountains and the sea, our lakes and rivers and good clear air. The greenery of our scenery is a great attraction to people coming from industrial areas. The openness of our countryside is also a great asset. We have a lot to offer and promote. On the human side, the friendliness of our people has been remarked upon over and over again by people who come from foreign countries where, in many cases, they have not time to bid one another good day.

People in this country still have more time and the friendliness and hospitality offered by the Irish is a tremendous asset which can be marketed abroad. One aspect which impressed people I met at various conferences last year was how easy it was to mix with Irish people and how quickly visitors felt at home. That is difficult to market but we must show that we are hospitable.

We have an ancient heritage. We know the position in Mayo. Throughout the country there are raths, forts and other national monuments which are a great tourist attraction, especially for people from the USA and Canada who do not have a history as long as ours. There were settlements and an advanced civilisation here centuries ago. We have this on offer and we must promote it.

Glengarriff and Kenmare are known throughout the world and have been promoted well. I come from Dunmanway which won the national tidy towns competition in the early 1980s. The peninsulas in the south west are second to none for scenery, fresh air, sea pursuits, sporting activities, boating, fishing, etc.

The islands off the south-west coast must not be forgotten. Although they have modern facilities, the isolation and the difficulty in getting to them in winter means the island people need other sources of income. Tourism must be developed on these islands. People from abroad, and even from our cities, can be attracted to the islands. The isolation and peacefulness there can lead to an enjoyable holiday.

I am glad £5 million was provided in the budget for a tourism promotion drive. The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Cowen, has earmarked £500,000 for the marketing of Cork Airport. It is an important airport; Senator Kiely might feel the airport near Killarney is more important.

Mr. D. Kiely

We also received £500,000.

Mr. Calnan

Good, then we can put them together and have £1 million to promote the south west. It is good to see Cork Airport developing in that way because it is a useful airport for tourism as well as for industrialists and anyone coming into the country. Positioned on the south of the city, it provides a natural gateway to the tourism facilities in the west Cork region.

I was also glad to see in the budget that £15 million from the tax amnesty would be devoted to the maintenance and upkeep of non-national roads. They are most important for tourism. The long winding roads of our countryside often provide an attraction for people who are more used to modern three lane motorways such as the autobahn or the autostrada. To be able to ramble along on a reasonably good, pothole free road in a rural part of Ireland is a tremendous advantage. The money from the tax amnesty will be useful here. It brings the total money allocated to non-national roads this year to £28.3 million, an increase of 113 per cent. It should have a great effect not just on tourism but for people who use the roads for agriculture or business purposes.

I commend the Minister for his work. His attitude towards tourism for the future will be positive. Economic growth can stem from this and result in employment where it is badly needed. Such employment may be only seasonal but it is better to have a job for part of the year than to be idle for the whole year. That is a tough statement but any jobs of this nature will bring great benefits to areas where emigration and unemployment are rampant and no other growth exists. We need tourism in our peripheral and disadvantaged areas. Family farms, town houses, bed and breakfast establishments and small and large hotel complexes will play their part when properly developed.

Mr. Quinn

I welcome the Minister and enthusiastically support the motion. I will point out four steps which may be of use to the Minister and I have one proposal I hope he takes on board.

I have no axe to grind but I speak from experience. I grew up in one of the two holiday camps in Ireland which was a marvellous experience for development. My father ran Red Island holiday camp in Skerries, which closed in the 1970s. Later I was on the board of the Imperial Hotel in Cork for 15 years. I have a background in tourism but no present involvement.

I take pleasure in recording four recent steps taken in tourism. The first is the development of electronic marketing with the Gulliver information and reservation system put into operation by Bord Fáilte. I make a point of praising Bord Fáilte here because I will make points against them later. The beauty of electronic marketing is that it turns our disadvantage of being on the periphery of Europe into an advantage. Also, it is an all-Ireland venture. If Senator Wilson were here he would recognise this as a way for the North and South to work together, something we are all seeking.

The second step is the recent recognition that revenue is important, not just numbers. The crucial issue is not the number of tourists who come but the amount they spend. We have the benefit of uncrowded beaches and roads. We must encourage tourists to spend more. I am attracted by the recent efforts to coax conferences here because people attending those conferences spend money. We should not be just spending money to attract Spanish students to learn English; we should also attract European business people anxious to learn English, who are willing to spend a good deal of money for intensive courses. I am delighted to see some recognition of that.

My third point, in support of Senator Cosgrave, is that the job of marketing Ireland is definitely a job for the State. Often I argue the State should not be involved in many areas but in this area it should be. This has been recently recognised and I am glad the budget took steps in this direction. It is not merely a job for individual parts of the tourism industry. We all benefit from that; I read that 50 pence out of every pound spent here by a tourist goes to the Revenue in one form or other.

The fourth positive step was the tough stance the Minister took with the main State agency, Bord Fáilte. One of the most distressing aspects of tourism in recent years was the amount of energy wasted in squabbles between the Department and Bord Fáilte and between Bord Fáilte and the tourist industry. I use the word "squabbles" purposely. The sad truth is that Bord Fáilte has over the years lost the trust of its sponsoring Department and of the industry it serves. Those in the industry may be too diplomatic to put it in those terms but most would privately agree with me. Instead of a creative cooperative relationship there has been one of confrontation and mistrust. Someone, and it may have been the Minister, even referred to the board as an independent republic. I do not wish to rake over the coals of this affair but I want to make sure it is put behind us.

The Minister has recently shown himself ready to stand up to Bord Fáilte and to declare who is the boss. This has now been underlined by the fact that the money for the new marketing campaign in the United States will be controlled directly by the Government and not by Bord Fáilte. However, this practice cannot continue. One cannot run a national tourism effort by bypassing the national tourist office. I am sure the Minister does not intend to drag all the functions of Bord Fáilte back to his Department. That is the last thing Irish tourism would need.

I hope the Minister will have the courage of his convictions and go the whole way in solving the Bord Fáilte problem. Everyone would agree that the agency has lost its way and something must be done to put it back on the rails. Bord Fáilte should be revitalised and reinvigorated. Bypassing Bord Fáilte, as has been tried before with the setting up of task forces and now with the holding back of their spending power, is only a temporary expedient.

To carry the medical analogy one step further, what Bord Fáilte needs is not a bypass but a transplant. I mean this in two specific ways. First, it needs a transplant in terms of strength from the tourism industry itself. For years, Bord Fáilte has been crippled by the distance from its core business. In my teenage days, I attended one of the last meetings of the Irish Tourist Association before it closed down and was placed in the hands of the State. That was a mistake. It was also a mistake to swallow up the Irish Goods Council, which had firm roots in industry and the private sector, and bury it in the bureaucratic embrace of Bord Tráchtála. Bord Fáilte needs to reconstitute its structure so that it becomes part of the tourism industry and that industry becomes part of it. One does not do this with a few token appointments to the board but by putting in place a genuinely representative regional structure and, above all, by coming closer to business, the customers and the people who serve them.

The second transplant I have in mind is a geographic one. The only way the Minister can be sure of rejuvenating and reinvigorating Bord Fáilte is by taking it by the scruff of the neck and physically locating it elsewhere. The headquarters of Bord Fáilte should be moved to the west. A national tourism organisation needs to be located at a major gateway, and Shannon is the obvious choice. Moving Bord Fáilte to Shannon would be good for the organisation itself. It would shake it up and force it to take a fresh look at its mission and the way it conducts its business. It would be good for the west as well.

When this issue was debated in the National Plan, I pointed out that we had to start reversing the drift of centring everything in the east. A policy to make the west the national centre for activities that are not location-sensitive, such as services in general and tourism in particular, should be examined. Moving Bord Fáilte to Shannon would be good for the region. The area badly needs a number of positive injections if it is to maintain the critical mass of support and to develop its infrastructure and employment.

I want to see a national tourism effort in which the four main players are pulling together and not apart, which is happening at the moment. They should first put all their energies into attracting visitors here. They should then treat them so well that they will want to come back. The four players are the Department of Tourism and Trade, Bord Fáilte, the various elements that make up the industry and, most importantly, the Irish people. If we are to make a real success of tourism and if it is to realise its potential, we have to rediscover the truth that tourism is not only a special sector, a vested interest of those who work in it, but that it concerns all of us. Tourism is everybody's business. We should work to make it a real winner because we all stand to benefit hugely from that victory.

Minister for Tourism and Trade (Mr. McCreevy)

I thank the Senators for giving me such a hearty welcome. I was here on many occasions as Minister for Social Welfare. Indeed, I was rarely out of this House for Adjournment Debates. However, as Minister for Tourism and Trade, I have only been here on one previous occasion.

I will take on board many of the interesting comments made by various Senators. Senator Fahey's contribution summed up the matter when he said that the tourism industry has been regarded as a Cinderella industry for a long time. The Senator also referred to the fact that we have welcomed the recent Galway initiative three times in the last three days and because of this a person said to me that there must have been 1,500 jobs created there. Senator Fahey also said that a small hotel may employ up to 30-40 people. This is a highly labour intensive industry. Small hotels are dotted throughout the country and the spin-off in tourist activities means real jobs for our people. The various points raised by other Senators illustrate that thought. We are at last beginning to recognise tourism as a real industry which provides real and lasting jobs. I will take on board the ideas put forward by the Senators, and those of Senator Quinn in particular. Indeed, I set up the Tourist Council for the purpose of making the industry work together.

The development of the Irish tourism industry is at the heart of the Government's economic and employment growth strategy. Up to half of the net employment growth in the economy over the next five years will come from tourism. This is set out in our National Development Plan.

Before I talk about my plans for the new operational programme for tourism, I will refer briefly to what was achieved under the programme that has just ended. There can be no doubt that it has been a major success. Practically all of the ambitious targets set for the development of the industry at the outset of the programme have been substantially achieved. Revenue has increased by 96 per cent or £450 million; overseas visitor numbers are up by 73 per cent or 800,000 people and tourism jobs are up by 90 per cent or 20,000 jobs.

This performance was achieved through a combination of complementary factors. Government policies have kept our inflation rates among the lowest in Europe. The liberal competitive air and sea access policy pursued by the Government has led to a marked reduction in fares and the opening up of new routes into Ireland. Tax incentives and value added tax policies have encouraged investment. However, the single biggest contributory factor has been the large scale investment programme undertaken over the last five years in new product, expanded marketing and training, with EU assistance of £170 million. We now look forward to a new and even more exciting era of tourism development, which is spelled out in the National Development Plan for Ireland, 1994-99.

Since taking office last year, I have consistently maintained that we need efficient, streamlined tourism structures to facilitate a more planned an co-ordinated effort by all involved in the industry. The new Department of Tourism and Trade, with responsibility for overall national tourism policy, has, as envisaged in the Programme for a Partnership Government, provided a central focal point for the sector. Last September I established the Tourism Council to act as a national forum for consultation between the tourism industry, State tourism agencies and Departments. Three sub-committees of the council have since been set up to address access, product development and marketing issues and report back to the council. I understand that all three sub-committees are making progress in their deliberations. Overall, I expect the Tourism Council will play a vital role in identifying problems and providing guidance in determining tourism policy in the coming years.

I reached agreement with the regional tourism organisations last October to reform the corporate structures of the organisations. Arising from that agreement, new structures based on county divisions are in the process of being established to replace the existing regional councils of the RTOs. Each county, therefore, will be represented by a county tourism committee comprising representatives of the various membership categories within each RTO, including members of voluntary groups and organisations. In addition, new slimmed down boards of management will be established to replace the existing management committees. Tourism will emerge all the stronger at regional and county level within the new framework. The new structure is practical and well co-ordinated and designed to facilitate the achievement of our tourism targets.

Due to its labour intensive nature and the problem of low profitability, tourism development is particularly sensitive to the fiscal environment. In recent months, through the Tourism Council and its committees and in bilateral discussions with the industry, a number of specific concerns have been identified. I am happy to say that last week's budget addressed many of these in a positive and constructive way.

The continuation of last year's budget provision relating to the application of vehicle registration tax on the car hire sector has already received a wide welcome. Last year this measure proved very successful in addressing shortages in the car hire fleet, which was its primary objective. There is strong evidence, however, that it also impacted on price and its retention in this year's budget, together with the actual reduction in vehicle registration tax, will make this important sector more competitive.

The improved VAT refund arrangements, which will allow coach tour operators a full refund of the VAT paid on certain touring coaches, is also a significant and welcome development. Irish coach operators have expressed concern about competitive disadvantages, particularly vis-á-vis UK operators who have lower costs. This measure will result in a major improvement in the Irish operators' cost base which will help the sector to compete efficiently.

Tourism is not only labour intensive but is made up predominantly of small and medium sized businesses. It is recognised as the single sector with the greatest potential to deliver much needed jobs in the future. Many of the measures in the budget, therefore, while not exclusively aimed at the tourism sector will, nevertheless, make a significant impact on its profitability, competitiveness and job creation potential. These include, for example, the changes relating to capital acquisitions tax, which is of particular benefit to family businesses, the new PRSI rates for low paid workers and access to the new £100 million subsidised loan scheme. The extension of the urban renewal scheme for another three years is particularly welcome. By encouraging the revitalisation of previously run-down areas of our key cities and towns the scheme will contribute to the improvement of our tourism environment.

As Senators will be aware, the Minister for Finance has made available to me an additional £5 million for a special tourism promotion and development programme in 1994. This money, in addition to the earlier provision of £3 million in my Estimate for tourism promotion activities, will enable me to provide a major impetus to our marketing drive this year. A special industry led £3 million campaign, focusing on the north American market, will shortly be launched using television, magazines and newspapers. It will highlight Ireland in a new and vibrant way. Our target is to increase the number of visitors from the US in 1994 by 57,000. A sum of £100,000 is being made available for tourist promotion in Japan. A further £100,000 is earmarked for marketing in Australia and New Zealand and £800,000 will be directed at a special campaign to improve business in the shoulder and off peak season.

I am currently considering how the additional £5 million given to me in the budget for tourism marketing can be best spent. My priorities will be that the money is targeted at markets where we can expect a real return, but I believe we must be open to new concepts of marketing Ireland. Ultimately, I want to see an industry which can stand on its own two feet, finance its own development and co-ordinate its marketing on a co-operative basis. There are signs that we are getting this change. The product development companies, especially in areas such as golf, gardens and heritage, are providing a co-ordinated and focused vehicle for relatively small operations to contribute to marketing their product. The special initiative on North America, which I already mentioned, has generated a sizeable cash contribution from major tourism players for our promotional campaign in that market.

The further development of the tourism industry is an integral part of the national development plan. That plan is essentially an employment plan and the tourism industry is being targeted to provide up to 50 per cent of the net increase in employment envisaged in it. That is a huge task which will require a momentous effort on the part of all sectors of the industry. My task as Minister is to ensure that the right climate is created to facilitate this level of performance. I believe that the proposals for the tourism industry in the plan are a first step in this regard. These proposals will be expanded upon in the operational programme for tourism which I hope to be in a position to publish before the middle of this year. The principal objective of our tourism strategy over the 1994-99 period is to maximise Ireland's tourism potential by increasing tourism revenue thereby ensuring much needed employment.

The programme specifically aims by 1999 to do the following: achieve an increase of 50 per cent in real terms, equivalent to an extra £1 billion in foreign tourism revenue; create the equivalent of up to 35,000 full time jobs in the economy; improve significantly the seasonality profile of Irish tourism — the aim is that by 1999 two-thirds of visitors will holiday outside the peak period compared to about 60 per cent at present; and improve service and quality in the Irish tourism product. The new operational programme for tourism, 1994-99, will be the key plank in the strategy to achieve these targets. It will build on the partnership between the public and private sectors initiated under the previous programme.

The strategy to be pursued under the programme will assist the further development of the tourism sector by concentrating on the following: a large expansion of marketing activities with special emphasis on seasonality; further product development to meet specific market deficiencies; major improvements in the conference, angling and cultural tourism products; and an expansion in the range and scale of training to cater for anticipated employment growth. Planned investment in the tourism sector, as outlined in the National Development Plan, is estimated at £700 million, with EU grant support of £400 million. We intend to continue practical co-operation in areas of mutual benefit to tourism interests, north and south, in the future with financial assistance from both the EU and the International Fund for Ireland.

I am pleased this motion acknowledges the positive impact of my policies in the area of tourism development. Let me leave nobody in doubt that this Government's commitment to the tourism industry is genuine and I intend to personally steer this industry through the next six years. It will be an exciting but challenging time when we may have to let go some of the thought processes of the past and face up to new ways of thinking and doing things. Economic indicators are positive for the foreseeable future and this augurs well for tourism. According to IMF and OECD forecasts, growth in the OECD area this year is likely to be over 2 per cent compared to 1 per cent last year. The outlook for the UK economy represents a considerable improvement over recent years and a major opportunity for growth.

We need to get it right. Tourism is being looked to not alone to assist in our efforts to achieve economic cohesion with our European partners but to stimulate economic and social development throughout the country. It has a major role to play over the next six years and I assure Senators that my and this Government's commitment will reflect that important role.

I have noted the amendment tabled to this motion. In so far as marketing is concerned, it is clear from what I have said here this evening that sufficient resources are being provided for the marketing of Ireland abroad. This year there will be £21.7 million available directly to Bord Fáilte for its normal marketing programmes. In addition, a further £3 million was provided in the 1994 Estimates for a special marketing programme and last week a further £5 million was provided in the budget for an additional tourism promotion in 1994. It is also planned to make provision in the new operational programme for tourism for a marketing programme over six years, costing over £130 million with European Regional Development Fund assistance of over £50 million.

I acknowledge that the condition of many of our secondary roads, which are of importance to tourism, is less than satisfactory. In this regard, my Department has engaged in discussions with the Department of the Environment with a view to ensuring that certain roads of critical tourism importance are improved. Provision has been included in the national plan for this purpose and new arrangements are being put in place by the Department of the Environment with local authorities to ensure that sectoral priorities for tourism, industry, etc., are supported. The question of grant aiding accommodation is under consideration in the context of the proposed new operational programme for tourism.

I thank the Senators for their contributions and I am sure the remaining contributions will be equally enlightening. In general, I hope the following will mark my tenure as Minister for Tourism and Trade: I am not afraid to make mistakes. The number of mistakes made by any successful business person would probably outnumber their successes. One tries to ensure that one's successes are of greater benefit than one's mistakes. However, one is never going to be successful if one is not prepared to make such decisions.

Changes are taking place in my Department, some of which I have announced. For example, I have established the Tourism Council. Anyone who has any idea, even although it may have been rejected either by the State agency for tourism or the Department of Tourism in the past, should be aware that I am willing to consider all ideas to see if they will work. Some measures will fail, but we hope the measures we get right will make a marked improvement. Tourism is the one sector of the economy where we have an advantage. We can do it ourselves and do it better, and it should lead to lasting and sustainable jobs.

I thank Senators for their contributions. I will take on board many of the ideas put forward and we will run with some of them. At least, however, we will tease them all out. I appreciate the opportunity of presenting my views on the tourism sector and I thank the Seanad.

Mr. Cotter

I may share my time with Senator Neville. I welcome the Minister to the House. I hope his flair and marketing ability will have an effect on County Monaghan where I live, because we in the county are the lowest earners from tourism. I am sure the Minister is aware of this situation.

We have a certain natural product which has not been developed. When the Minister is considering how to spend his £5 million he could easily leave a big chunk of it in our part of the country where we have natural resources, coarse fishing, lakes and rivers in abundance, but sadly we do not have many people fishing them at present.

I hear stories about the 1960s when people, especially English people, came in droves to fish in our lakes. The development of our lakes did not proceed and the habit waned. We have to start from scratch and build up that market again.

The fact that we are close to the Border has also had an impact, but I believe the product we had was deficient. For example, there are stories about fishermen, who, when leaving in the morning to go to the lake to fish were given a chunk of timber to carry on their shoulder so that they could stand on the muddy banks while fishing. They did not appreciate that and over time they stopped visiting.

There are lakes in that part of the country in such abundance that we can give people who come to us their own personal lake. There are hundreds of lakes — many of which are small, and we have good coarse fishing. However, the tourism base is so narrow that it is difficult for us to market that kind of a product. We do not have the resources. For example, there are approximately 1,200 tourist beds in County Monaghan. When the Minister is considering ideas on how to spend the £5 million, he might look in the direction of County Monaghan and spend some of it there.

We have fantastic resources which are not being utilised. There are approximately 4.5 million people in England using their fishing rods every weekend. A small percentage of that market would be wonderful for us. It is an easy market to handle. Such visitors do not want very high standards of accommodation. They tend not to come as families. They arrive as individuals or as groups of individuals. They fish all day, have a few pints at night, a bit of craic and they are satisfied. All they want is good fishing which they will get in abundance.

Further development of the resource is required, such as access facilities. We want to leave the days behind us when the fishermen had to take a wooden pallet on which to stand at edge of the lake. English fishermen use the bank; they do not use boats.

The wonderful figures the Minister has recorded are not mirrored in County Monaghan or in County Cavan. We are the lowest earners and have a long way to go. Having said that, we are making some progress in so far as the Leader Programme and the International Fund for Ireland are providing assistance for development. Who is willing to make a fairly substantial investment in tourism unless they can be sure they are going to have a return? It is not a problem if one is living in County Kerry or some place that is well known in the coastal areas. Inland, where there is not a strong tourism base, how is a substantial amount of money to be invested when there may be no return? This consideration has been holding back our development. Jack Charlton found, when he wanted a place for his team before a couple of his matches, that the best place was the Nuremore Hotel outside Carrickmacross in County Monaghan. There are jewels, but they are too few.

When we in County Monaghan talk about tourism development, we are talking a different language from the kind talked in other parts of the country. Some developments are taking place, but we require much assistance. The counties along the western seaboard such as Galway and Donegal are able to make substantial money from tourism. We have to find some way of maximising our earnings from that sector also. If we do not we will have a heavy drain on our population and that will lead to its own cycle of problems in our small economies.

Regarding the development of the golf courses over the past number of years, we were lucky that such development was late in so far as we were able to learn much from other countries where development had already taken place. The golfing tourist arrived at, perhaps, Shannon, headed for Ballybunion, maybe Waterville and then travelled to Dublin. Such was the scene until recently. The tourist would play at Royal Dublin, Portmarnock, and then travel to Scotland to complete his tour. Even golfers without great ability would always go to the Mecca of golf, that is the golf courses recognised world wide as being exceptional.

Over the last few years we have added a few courses to the list of world renowned golf courses. However, many golf courses have been developed which will not be a major attraction to international tourism. Everybody wants to walk in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus and his likes and everybody wants to hit a green with a drive and an iron similar to Arnold Palmer in the 1960s. They go to the places where these golfers played; they tend to travel in their footsteps.

Many of the developments in golf are secondary attractions. They will help to keep people happy if they visit an area for a holiday, but in most cases golf would not be the primary purpose of their visit, unless there is a golf course like Ballybunion and Portmarnock which is internationally recognised.

We need to try and feed ourselves as a nation. We have never managed to do so since we achieved independence. We have always looked to America, England and foreign lands to feed us. We are always waiting for another wave of youngsters to leave the country and take the weight off our shoulders. We have a long way to go. The development of tourism will make a large contribution and we look forward to achieving the maximum from it. The Minister has the flair, the knowledge and the interest to take us a long way down that road. We may be critical from time to time, but he is able to accept that. He would welcome criticism in order to generate new ideas and approaches. I hope tourism will make an impact over the next few years which will enable us to keep our people on the island.

Mr. D. Kiely

I welcome the Minister to the House and I congratulate him on his address. I also listened attentively to contributions from other speakers and, for the first time, tourism has been recognised as an industry with a potential for future growth. The Minister will put his weight behind this in order to reach his targets. He has already made his mark. He has put his money where his mouth is and this is important. I am delighted extra revenue has been made available in the budget which will enable the Minister to promote the industry, something which has been neglected.

Last year I went on a promotional tour on behalf of County Kerry and visited many cities in the United States. The tour operators and groups I met felt that not enough effort was put into promoting tourism, particularly in North America. There has been a fall-off in North American visitors to Ireland. Only 5 per cent of Americans hold passports out of a population 250 million. There is enormous potential for growth in America, Canada, South America, Australia and Japan, an area which the Minister is moving into. I am excited about Japan——

Mr. Neville

The Senator could go there.

Mr. D. Kiely

I have not been as fortunate as Senator Neville, although I have dined in Japanese restaurants. When one travels to other countries and sees the large numbers of Japanese tourists, it is obvious there is a vast market there. I will not praise the Minister unreservedly because a lot of work must be done to bring more people to this country in the future.

Many people, particularly in my county, are dependent on tourism to make a living. A previous speaker referred to people moving to County Kerry because they were guaranteed a return. I know a lot of people who came to County Kerry, but left it as quickly as they came in. They believed the season would last for six or seven months, but it only lasted for four, five or six weeks, particularly in underdeveloped seaside resorts. While I welcome the announcement about inner city relief and the inclusion of Killarney, I would like all seaside resorts included in that network. It would give those living in these towns and those who have emigrated an incentive to bring back the old seaside family holiday which we were accustomed to before Spain and Portugal became popular.

There is potential for growth in sea angling, which remains untouched in my area. Those I introduced to deep sea angling, particularly from the UK, were impressed by the number of fish off the coast. Last September or October I met people from Wales who fished close to my village. They stayed up all night to catch fish which they threw back into the water. They told me there were approximately 7,000 angling clubs in Wales. I believe that is a market we could develop.

Despite the climate, many tourists are interested in walks, scenery, historic monuments, etc. Areas like the Ring of Kerry and different trails could be developed. At present I am setting up a trail in North Kerry. Those coming off the Tarbert car ferry will see the bridewell. Local people contributed approximately £100,000 to its restoration and recreated part of their heritage. I am sure it will be successful in years to come. Many castles located between Ballylongford and Ballybunion have not been utilised. Local people must get together with tourism organisations to take action. Many people come from different parts of the world to visit the Rattoo round tower and the Crag caves in Castleisland.

With the help of Kerry County Council and Tralee Urban District Council, a heritage centre was built in Tralee. Some 100,000 people visited the centre last year. In addition, we received grant aid from the Irish American Partnership Board to restore the old windmill in Tralee and we also restored the old steam train. We have achieved all this in a small area.

I was delighted to hear the Minister mention the 400 or 500 jobs in County Galway which have been announced 24 or 25 times. However, we are barely touching the potential of the hotel and catering market. The Minister said he will be in the Department of Tourism and Trade for the next five or six years. I hope he will be there for longer and that he will tell me in future years that I was right.

I was delighted various areas benefited from the Leader programme. Although my constituency, North Kerry, did not receive anything, those in south Kerry did. Many people extended and upgraded their premises by building en suite facilities and business doubled and trebled as a result. I would like grant aid introduced to seaside resorts and other areas in need of development under the Leader programme. I do not know whether the entire country comes under the programme, but it would enable people to upgrade their premises. People will no longer accept a room without an en suite facility.

Although I have not travelled as extensively as Senator Neville, I lived in the United States for ten years as a young man. I knew about facilities which Irish people were not accustomed to. Having returned to the United States on a number of occasions, I can say our facilities are as good as those in any part of the world. I compliment those involved in tourism, including the Hotels Federation and people running guest houses, on the high standard of hygiene they have introduced. I compliment restaurant owners throughout the country, including County Kerry, on the standard of their restaurants which one would not see in any part of the world.

We have huge potential for developing markets for sea and inland fishing. We have clean rivers. New legislation has been introduced to deal with pollution. Our rivers have definitely improved over the years. I fish a great deal. I lived near the River Feale in Listowel, which goes all the way to Abbeyfeale. I remember fish kills there on numerous occasions. Thank God there has been no such kill there for four or five years. Last year was one of the best years for salmon and trout fishing on that river. It is open to tourists to fish in this river. They can get daily or weekly licences. We love to see these visitors because they stay in guesthouses in our area.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach

The Senator's time is up.

Mr. D. Kiely

I am disappointed my time is up. I am excited about this new tourism drive. I am delighted the Minister is providing so much money to attract tourists from North America, Japan and other areas and that he is grasping his Department by the scruff of the neck, as he said, and giving it a good rapping because it needed it.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach

I must ask the Senator to conclude.

Mr. Farrelly

I wish to share my time with Senator Neville.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Farrelly

I welcome the Minister. I had the opportunity to be our party's spokesman on tourism in the Lower House for two years. I found, and I am sure the Minister also found on his appointment, that since 1987 we have had a serious problem in relation to funding the development and promotion of tourism. The Minister stated that £21.7 million was made available to Bord Fáilte for the national marketing programme. However, this sum is equivalent to the amount by which funding has been continually reduced over the last five years. Thus, there has been no real increase in the amount provided to Bord Fáilte for the North American and other markets. Only a limited amount has been made available.

The Minister informs us that £5 million is being made available for the promotion of tourism. I know from experience dealing with Bord Fáilte and others, that a long period is needed to develop the North American market. This cannot be done over three or four months. Marketing and promotion of this country must be ongoing. This additional £5 million for marketing in North America, Japan, Australia and elsewhere is small in real terms in comparison to the cost involved. However, it is welcome. The extra £8 million, consisting of the £3 million allocated in the Estimates and the £5 million announced in the budget, is only restoring funding to the levels needed by Bord Fáilte to market Ireland in 1987, 1988 and 1989. In those years we did not have this money but it is now available. I hope this money will be used wisely for the long term benefit of the country.

Costs facing tourists when they arrive here is an important aspect of tourism but this was not mentioned by the Minister, and is not referred to very often by many Ministers. Apart from minor proposals in the budget to help tourism, it provided for increases in the price of petrol, alcohol and cigarettes. These are extra costs on top of the cost of holidays here.

An Cathaoirleach

You have one minute left if you are sharing your time.

Mr. Farrelly

I am sharing my time with Senator Neville. We were given ten minutes and I have spoken for about three minutes. Have we ten minutes between us?

An Cathaoirleach

There are eight minutes left. How many minutes are you giving Senator Neville? Are you giving three minutes to Senator Neville?

Mr. Farrelly

No, I am giving him five minutes.

An Cathaoirleach

You cannot give him five minutes. There were only eight minutes left from the time you started.

Mr. Farrelly

In other words, you are taking time from the Fine Gael speakers to make up for the extra time taken by Senator Kiely.

An Cathaoirleach

I am guided by the rule that the mover of a motion is allocated the final ten minutes.

Mr. Farrelly

You are taking time from us to compensate for the extra three minutes taken by Senator Dan Kiely. I will abide by your ruling. The £667 million in taxation provided for in the budget will be collected. Tourists will pay a share of this. Until there is a policy directed towards reducing taxation and the costs to tourists coming here, it will be difficult to attract the extra tourists we require.

Finally, in relation to the new proposals on grant aid which will be announced later in the year, it is vital that small hotels, which were mentioned by Senator Kiely and others and which want to provide en suite accommodation, should be considered for grant aid. This was not the case in the past. The lack of sufficient and adequate accommodation across the country is serious. Many areas will not have proper bed nights until they are given help. The final point -

An Cathaoirleach

This is your second final point.

Mr. Farrelly

I hope that when the Leader programmes are submitted, the whole country will be given a fair allocation, unlike the last time.

An Cathaoirleach

Senator Neville, you have until 7.50 p.m., that is about three minutes.

Mr. Neville

I wish to raise with the Minister the issue of attacks on tourists, which are damaging to tourism. Last year there were a spate of robberies in Dublin and other cities which seriously damaged the image and attractiveness of our country to tourists, especially on the continent. Tourists from the continent were often subjected to such attacks. Visitors to this country are subjected to robberies and physical attacks and their cars are broken into. Tourists have been raped. I ask the Minister to impress on the Minister for Justice the need to counteract this problem, to make Garda reinforcements and facilities available and to have a planned approach to controlling tourist crime.

Cowardly criminals have identified tourists as easy targets. They have attacked these vulnerable people and shamed our reputation as the nation of a thousand welcomes. Adequate resources should be made available to the Garda and a special effort should be made at the start of the season because if these cowardly people feel they will be brought to justice at an early stage, the level of crime will be stemmed. Once tourists know these people will be brought to justice the problem will be nipped in the bud. It is very important that the experiences of last year are not repeated this year.

It is also very important that those who have committed such crimes are brought to justice and that the full rigours of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1991, are introduced. This would mean that District Justices would be used to obtain sworn evidence from tourists before they return home, which could later be presented in court. Video link-ups can also be arranged to provide the evidence in court to convict these cowardly criminals who are seriously damaging the image of our country and the tourist industry.

My objective is to impress on the Minister the need to ensure that crime this year does not reach the same level as last year, when crimes against tourists were committed daily in our capital and other cities. There should be a planned approach in early May to stamp it out and nip it in the bud. Criminals should be convicted and made aware that if they attack a tourist they are as likely to be detected as if they attacked an Irish citizen.

Mr. Fahey

I want to share my time with Senator Byrne.

An Cathaoirleach

How many minutes?

Mr. Byrne

Three minutes.

An Cathaoirleach

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Byrne

I thank Senator Fahey and join in the welcome for the Minister. Much could be said about tourism; we have high levels of unemployment and it is an area where jobs can be created far more cheaply than in industry. Seven out of ten jobs which are being created can be traced back to tourism. Fifty pence out of every pound spent by tourists goes to the Exchequer. The more tourists we have the less people will have to pay in taxes. In most areas we can be proud of our hotels and guesthouses, they are second to none and give great value. They can be something of a rip off in some areas but that happens in every country.

I would suggest that the Minister mention to the Minister for the Environment that our signposting leaves much to be desired.

Mr. Farrelly

People should stop lifting them.

Mr. Byrne

It is something which should be looked into. Some people might say that if there were signposts everywhere tourists would never meet the natives because they would be driving so fast. If tourists have to pull up to speak to people, they discover how friendly the Irish are.

I read in today's Cork Examiner about an award which was given to a Limerick man who was very kind to a tourist. If we are friendly to tourists and do not rip them off they will act as ambassadors for us. This man from Limerick met a German tourist and his wife whose car had broken down. The gear box had gone and this man went to enormous lengths to help them out. He gave them his own car, sent them away on holidays, sent to Germany for the gear box, came into Shannon, fitted it and had it ready when the Germans, who were strangers to him, came back. He got an award from Murphy's Brewery and the Cork Tourist Board. He deserves praise and got his due reward. We should be as friendly and helpful as possible to tourists because it leaves a very good impression.

Senator Neville mentioned that, unfortunately, tourists are being robbed. If there was a garda on every street comer this could not be prevented because, particularly in big cities, it is hard to handle crime. However, it leaves a bad image and the Government is doing all it can in that area.

I am pleased to hear that the Minister is taking a hands on approach to this matter. He is investing more money marketing our tourism product abroad. I am sure we will get greater value in the future because, particularly in the United States, we have not been getting value. There is a great market for us there and I have every confidence that the Minister will do a good job in the years ahead.

Mr. Fahey

I thank the Senators who took part in the debate and the Minister. It is rare that an Opposition Senator or Deputy describes a Minister as having flair. However it was an appropriate description of the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, by Senator Cotter. It is recognised across the board that we have in this important position the man whom we are all confident will deliver on the great potential of the industry.

I want to dwell on a couple of the points which were made. Aspects of the tourism industry were discussed tonight which are not the responsibility of the Minister for Tourism and Trade, such as the need for changes in taxation and improvements in transport.

Mr. Farrelly

He is at the Cabinet table.

Mr. Fahey

These issues could perhaps be taken up in a tourism related debate. If the Minister for Finance and perhaps the Minister for Transport were here we could highlight some of the elements of those areas which pertain to the industry.

With regard to the desire to expand the length of the season, Senator Howard's point about Doolin and Lisdoonvarna sums up the potential which is there. I am a reasonably frequent visitor to Doolin because I live quite close to it. There is no doubt that Doolin does not need to be promoted because every day in the town where I live people stop to ask directions to Doolin. It is known all over Europe. Rather than develop Doolin further, we should try to develop a couple of hundred Doolins where we could create the atmosphere of that village. As Senator Howard said, tourists are there at the moment and they are not too bothered by the rain or wind.

I gave the example of Dromoland Castle where, at the moment, two people can stay for £89 a night for bed and breakfast and £25 for dinner. This is one of the most luxurious hotels in Europe. We must be able to bring people from Europe and the United States at this time of the year to stay in a hotel such as that and to enjoy the beauty of the Burren. It does not matter about the wind and the rain because there is nothing more exciting than sitting on the rocks on Black Head on a bad day enjoying the power of the Atlantic.

Senator Quinn made the point that tourism involves all of us. I recall seeing a slogan in the United States some time ago which read "Look after our visitors and save your tax dollars". The message to be learned from that slogan is that we are all promoters of Irish tourism and the more we look after our visitors the fewer tax pounds we will pay because of the resulting increased tax revenue.

With regard to the season, it is a pity that so many hotels are closed today. I rang five major hotels in the west and south-west today and there was no reply from any of them, they were all closed. We have asked the Minister to introduce improvements for the hotel industry, and we know he is doing that. However, there is an onus on the people in the industry to extend the season. These people were shouting about the Shannon stopover but they were closed at the times they wanted daily flights.

I rang a hotel in Myrtle Beach today and asked how much it would cost to stay there for a week at this time of year, their low season. A week in a four star hotel where I could play golf on five golf courses with a buggy would cost $129. I said to the hotelier that surely they did not make money on that. He replied that they did not but they kept their people at work. That has got to be the message for Irish hoteliers who believe there is no point in opening for the winter months. I would accept that there is no point opening in the west of Ireland at the moment. However, I would urge the Minister to open the Shannon gateway from Europe and let tourists come directly on structured chartered flights. I am confident that we will then be able to keep those hotels open all year round. We will be able to attract people to holiday during the winter which will result in year round employment.

We can save the west of Ireland, which is my priority as far as tourism is concerned. Tourism is the one industry, as I said at the outset, which can bring about economic growth and job creation. I am delighted the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, is in the driving seat and I wish him luck in his task.

Mr. Farrelly

Not for seven years.

Amendment put.

The Seanad divided; Tá, 16; Níl, 24.

Tá

• Belton, Louis J.
• Burke, Paddy.
• Cosgrave, Liam.
• Cotter, Bill.
• Cregan, Denis (Dino).
• Doyle, Joe.
• Enright, Thomas W.
• Farrelly, John V.
• Henry, Mary.
• Howard, Michael.
• McDonagh, Jarlath.
• Manning, Maurice.
• Naughten, Liam.
• Neville, Daniel.
• Ross, Shane P.N.
• Taylor-Quinn, Madeleine.

Níl

• Bohan, Eddie.
• Byrne, Seán.
• Calnan, Michael.
• Cashin, Bill.
• Cassidy, Donie.
• Daly, Brendan.
• Fahey, Frank.
• Farrell, Willie.
• Finneran, Michael.
• Fitzgerald, Tom.
• Hillery, Brian.
• Kelleher, Billy.
• Kiely, Dan.
• Kiely, Rory.
• Lanigan, Mick.
• Lydon, Don.
• Maloney, Sean.
• Mullooly, Brian.
• Norris, David.
• O'Brien, Francis.
• Ormonde, Ann.
• Roche, Dick.
• Wall, Jack.
• Wright, G.V.

Tellers: Tá, Senators Cosgrave and Burke; Níl, Senators Mullooly and Wall.

Amendment declared lost.

Question, "That the motion be agreed to", put and declared carried.