Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 25 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 4

Written Answers. - White House Conference.

Dan Wallace

Ceist:

37 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the projects, if any, in the tourism sphere that commenced as a result of the White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland that was held in May 1995. [13343/96]

Noel Treacy

Ceist:

43 Mr. N. Treacy asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the projects, if any, that commenced in the trade sphere as a result of the White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland that was held in May 1995. [13347/96]

Minister for Tourism and Trade (Mr. E. Kenny)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 37 and 43 together. Since the White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland, the economic agencies including An Bord Tráchtála have worked closely with their counterparts in the US Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration on a range of follow-up activities designed to identify profitable business opportunities for companies in Ireland and the US.

The Department of Commerce has also organised two business development missions to Ireland. The most recent mission, which focused on information technology, took place earlier this month with 13 US companies visiting Ireland, North and South, for meetings with their Irish counterparts in the It and software sectors. A number of Irish companies have also participated in the North American Partnership Programme which is funded by the International Fund for Ireland and administered by Forbairt and the US Small Business Administration. Some of the participating companies have since formed strategic alliances with US companies resulting in additional employment in the Border region and increased sales for both the Irish and US partners.

At the White House Conference, I also signed a communiqué on tourism co-operation with the former US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and my Northern Ireland counterpart Baroness Denton. While the untimely death of Ron Brown and the abolition of the US Travel and Tourism Administration has resulted in less progress compared to the trade area, there has been increasingly close co-operation between Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on a number of projects such as Brand Ireland and the Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative, which is marketing the island as a single destination in the United States and other countries. CERT is also currently involved in a number of initiatives including the placement of Irish graduates in work experience and training programmes in the US tourism industry.

The US Administration is planning a follow-up trade and investment conference in Philadelphia in the autumn which will have a particular focus on developing further business partnerships.