Vol. 396 No. 7
7 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if his attention has been drawn to the damage being done to the image of Irish tourism, arising from the frequency of attacks on visitors to Ireland in the Dublin area; and, if so, the proposals, if any, he has, in consultation with the Minister for Justice, to provide greater protection for these visitors.
15 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the number of tourists who made complaints to his Department or Bord Fáilte regarding incidents of crime in Dublin during 1989; if any estimate has been made of the total number of tourists who have been victims of crime during 1989; if, in view of the potential damage such incidents can cause our tourist industry, he intends to take any steps to alert tourists to the crime problem in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 15 together.
I have already raised my concerns about possible adverse effects which attacks on tourists might have on Ireland's image as a holiday destination, directly with the Minister for Justice, who has statutory responsibility for community protection.
I understand that the Garda will be opening a special office in O'Connell Street later this month to provide advice to tourists on preventative measures which they can take to safeguard themselves and their belongings during the coming season. A number of other measures have also been taken by the Garda including the production of a special leaflet and the deployment of additional Garda patrols, including gardaí on plain clothes duty in areas of high tourist interest.
There is no doubt that attacks on tourists in Dublin is causing great concern to those in the industry and to the national marketing and promotion body, Bord Fáilte. I would say to the Minister that the only real basis on which this can be eliminated is by a greater presence of gardaí on the streets in Dublin. I welcome the initiation of the opening of the complaints office——
I am anxious to help the Deputy but we must proceed by way of supplementary questions.
Would the Minister accept that there is likely to be a substantially greater loss in tourism revenue to the country as a result of a continuation of these attacks than there would be from providing an effective street policing system? This is the vital question that the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Tourism and Transport have to give attention to. These attacks have got widespread publicity on the Continent and that publicity will continue as long as the incidents continue. I appeal to the Minister, in consultation with his colleague in the Department of Justice, to consider the presence of a substantially higher number of gardaí on the streets. That would be the one basis on which to defeat these thugs.
I must dissuade the Deputy from proceeding by way of a statement. This is Question Time.
I agree with the Deputy that such attacks can be very damaging to the industry. The last thing we need is that kind of coverage around the world, that tourists are not safe. This is the island of the welcomes and if tourists get any other impression it could have a very serious impact on our tourist industry. We have to be practical about this. The Garda know the areas of high tourist interest and they have already agreed to use plain clothes gardaí in so far as is possible in those areas. The most effective way to proceed is to try to target the limited resources in these high tourist interest areas, using the gardaí in plain clothes.
