Vol. 378 No. 3
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the way in which he has revamped the interdepartmental policy co-ordination committee on tourism; the changes in the personnel and terms of references of the committee resulting from this revamping; and any other changes which have been made.
19.
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he will outline the initiatives if any, which have come from the Interdepartmental Policy Co-ordinating Committee on Tourism.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 19 together.
Among the special measures which I announced last May to boost tourism in 1987 was a revamping and upgrading of the Interdepartmental Policy Co-ordination Committee on Tourism to help co-ordinate public sector activities in so far as they relate to tourism.
Deputy Denis Lyons, Minister of State at my Department, has taken over the chairmanship of this committee previously held by an Assistant Secretary in the former Department of Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry and representation has been raised to the level of Assistant Secretary. The committee was mandated to identify current activities of Government Departments and State agencies which could be incorporated in attractive packages for tourism promotion; to assess the potential for increased utilisation of existing public sector resources; and to co-ordinate State activities related to environmental protection, pollution control and planning.
A large number of initiatives were recommended by the committee and I have enumerated the most important of these in the attached Appendix to this reply which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.
The Minister of State, Deputy Lyons, is now pursuing on a bilateral basis with the relevant Departments the proposals which arose from the committee's deliberations and is monitoring progress on their implementation.
Appendix
1. Department of the Taoiseach
(i) to develop a programme of tours based on Irish cultural institutions, including specific tours and lectures for specialist groups;
(ii) to develop composite brochures on cultural institutions and comprehensive "passport" tickets for those institutions;
(iii) to improve shopping facilities at cultural institutions and genealogical services for tourists.
2. Department of the Environment
(i) to strengthen legislation dealing with derelict sites, camping and caravan sites, water pollution;
(ii) to introduce programmes for urban renewal and improvements in rural areas;
(iii) to encourage oil companies to accelerate the rate of introduction of lead-free petrol at Irish filling stations.
3. Forest Service
(1) to develop and assist in the promotion at home and abroad of long-distance walking routes through our forest lands.
4. Department of Foreign Affairs
(i) to carry out a pilot project in five embassies (Brussels, Stockholm, Vienna, Madrid and Tokyo have been chosen) concentrating on areas in which they can help tourism promotion in co-operation with Bord Fáilte.
5. Department of Education
(i) to highlight to school authorities the possibilities for using school buildings and sporting facilities for tourism purposes;
(ii) to develop cultural/educational/ tourism packages.
6. Department of Health
(i) health boards in tourist intensive regions to step up inspection of hotels, restaurants, etc. during the tourist season;
(ii) to launch a Food Hygiene Awareness Week.
7. Department of Finance
(i) to promote tourism projects for ERDF assistance.
8. Roinn na Gaeltachta
(i) to ask Irish language schools to encourage family visits to students as a method of boosting domestic tourism in the area;
(ii) to consider a special tourism project award for the Údarás Community Development Awards Scheme.
9. Department of the Marine
(i) to establish a Sport and Recreation Division and an advisory committee on marine related facilities with a view towards directing resources into tourism amenity development;
(ii) Central Fisheries Board to assist Bord Fáilte in the development and promotion of inland fisheries and to assist angling tourism.
10. OPW
(i) to give priority to the provision of a good level of high quality historic monuments and buildings and to illustrate their importance in proper interpretive literature.
11. Department of Agriculture
(i) highest priority to be given to the further development of Irish quality food products and to their use and presentation in the tourism trade;
(ii) top priority to be given to the development of farm-related tourism activities.
