Like Deputy Russell who spoke here last night, I question the wisdom of the lump sum of £5 million as against the annual allowance paid to Bord Fáilte. If we are to give Bord Fáilte the green light by ear-marking so much money, will we be in a position to question the spending of that money in different directions? Unlike Deputy Lynch I am not so impressed by Bord Fáilte and the wonderful pictures in the magazines all over the world. I have reason to be critical of Bord Fáilte although I have tried to be as fair as possible to them in criticising their activities. However, looking back over the years and the manner in which some of the Bord Fáilte money has been spent, I am wondering whether it is advisable to earmark this large amount of money for them.
Speakers here last night questioned the manner in which Bord Fáilte allocations are being spent. Not long ago representatives of Bord Fáilte attended a local authority meeting in Cork and told of the £200,000 for West Cork. There is one big problem in that connection, namely, that we have not the least idea when any of the £200,000 will be spent in West Cork, whether it will come out of the lump sum now being offered or whether it will come under a long-term policy.
The Minister has drawn attention to the question of improvement works at holiday resorts. I had occasion recently to communicate with Bord Fáilte enquiring what they intended to do for Crosshaven, which is a popular seaside resort, most convenient to the people of Cork City. Admittedly, they are local residents, not tourists coming by Aer Lingus, but the people of Cork City are entitled to some consideration.
In reply I received a long letter dated 30th May informing me that they had no money to spend on that resort. That was bad enough but they also said that they were aware of the need for amenities and had brought it to the attention of the Department of Local Government. They sent me a copy of the letter they had sent to the Department of Local Government.
The technical experts available to the Department of Local Government are well able to attend to improvements of roads that come under the jurisdiction of Cork County Council and the Department. However, Bord Fáilte set out what they want done in the way of improvements to main roads and tourist roads and state that instead of the commonly-used chain link fencing, cut stone walls should be provided. It is preposterous that Bord Fáilte should spend time on these matters. It must involve considerable cost to Bord Fáilte to have officials, not trying to encourage tourists, but telling the Department of Local Government what they should be doing. The policy of Bord Fáilte in that respect does not display common sense.
I hear Bord Fáilte being praised here but in the small seaside resort of Fennell's Bay the local people co-operated to improve the approach to the beach and spent their own money in the hope that they would get some assistance from Bord Fáilte only to be told that Bord Fáilte could not give any money towards the project. They may spend money in Dublin or Waterford or other places but common sense is missing when it comes to Cork County. It is for that reason that I question the wisdom of passing a Bill to hand over a lump sum to Bord Fáilte, giving them the green light to carry on in their own style for a number of years without having to come back to this House for more money.
The Minister has directed attention to the importance of providing new offices abroad. I should like to know if there is any back room in any of our Embassies abroad that could accommodate Bord Fáilte but I suppose Bord Fáilte would not be satisfied with a back room and want luxurious offices. The money being spent on these buildings and the furnishing of them could be better spent in some other way in connection with tourism. There are hundreds of thousands of Irish people in England. Many a person is making a fine living out of selling tickets for a certain sweepstake to these people. Why not introduce a scheme whereby persons could become promoters for the purpose of bringing tourists to this country and would be given a commission for bringing families living in their neighbourhood or persons whom they might contact at their work to this country? There are many men from Cork City and County who could help in bringing dozens of English families to this country if they could make a pound or two out of it. Would it not be much more beneficial to arrange such a scheme rather than to squander money on offices?
A great deal more could be done to encourage English, Scottish and Welsh people to come to this country. There is a wide-open market there. Irish people who have had to seek employment in those countries could be ambassadors for their country in promoting tourism and at the same time could make a few pounds to help them to pay for their own holidays. If Bord Fáilte were to formulate a scheme on those lines it would have very good results.
Deputies have referred to the amount of money spent on the building of large hotels. I shall not elaborate on that subject except to say that I agree with what has been said. The advertisements issued by Bord Fáilte seem to concentrate on the wonderful amenities we have but one thing is forgotten. Bord Fáilte may not be able to do anything about it but it may be possible for the Minister to step in. I refer to the charges made by these hotels. They are preposterous. If a tourist is charged £2 for bed and breakfast he will let everybody know about it. We should be more concerned with providing adequate accommodation at a reasonable charge for people coming from the north-eastern counties and from Britain.
I do not know whether Bord Fáilte at any time made overtures to the Hotel Federation to get them to fix fair and reasonable charges. In many instances tourists are being fleeced by the hotel charges — not in all cases, thank God. There should be a special section in Bord Fáilte to deal with over-charging. They may say that they have not got many complaints, but the trouble is that people go away and complain when they are at home and say they will not come back again. There should be standardisation of charges. That would help tourism generally and would help to increase the percentage of tourists from the United Kingdom.
Grants are given to local development associations, but there is one grant you are sure of getting, and that is the grant to pay the legal costs of the registration of these companies. The solicitors benefit again. The legal end is well provided for, up to about £40, I think. If the local development associations did not do anything afterwards except to meet as mutual admiration societies, the £40 is down the drain because they are registered. Something should be done about that. It should be checked up on. Perhaps it might help to save some of the money that goes to Bord Fáilte. In my opinion the benefits are doubtful.
Other members of the House drew attention to the conditions prevailing in the hotel training courses. As a member of a county vocational committee, I am aware of the serious situation confronting us. The latest report I got was that not many girls of a suitable age are availing of those training courses, because the conditions and remuneration in some hotels are not satisfactory. The hotels should be made to understand that the girls and boys on these courses are not to be regarded as cheap labour. They are sent there to improve their knowledge and to help the tourist industry. To my mind the standards in some hotels are poor enough. They seem to regard those boys and girls as coolie labour. That is a matter on which Bord Fáilte could make investigations and report to the Minister.
I am not opposing the Bill, but I believe the handing over of a lump sum of money to Bord Fáilte, and giving them a free hand for the next six, seven or ten years, will mean that they will formulate schemes and send letters regretting there is nothing they can do for Crosshaven or Fennell's Bay, but that they are getting wonderful publicity, in the international magazines. We must face reality. If tourism is to be made a success, Bord Fáilte must realise, and be made to realise, that, in future, tourism must flow from the incomes of the ordinary working people who come here for their holidays.