Vol. 475 No. 8
11 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if he will extend the concept of Ireland House overseas as part of the newly enhanced strategy to promote Ireland overseas in view of the launch of Bord Fáilte's Tourism Brand Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5970/97]
The Deputy will be aware that matters relating to the strategic management and deployment of Tourism Brand Ireland are the responsibility of Bord Fáilte. The board's chief executive, along with the chief executives of the other State promotional agencies, is a member of the Foreign Earnings Committee, which I chair, and which also includes senior officials from relevant Government Departments.
The Committee is responsible for ensuring the effective co-ordination of Ireland's overseas promotional activities. Its remit, therefore, includes examining opportunities for the consolidation, wherever possible, of our overseas diplomatic, commercial and consular offices in Ireland Houses.
The Ireland House concept is about bringing together, where appropriate, Embassies, consulates and agencies in one building to provide a single point of contact for anyone who wants to do business with or seek information on Ireland. Representation has already been consolidated in Ireland Houses in New York, Tokyo, Prague, Budapest and Kuala Lumpur. The Foreign Earnings Committee has also recently agreed to the development of an Ireland House in Madrid.
The Committee will continue to review possibilities for the extension of the Ireland House concept to other locations where it can be justified in terms of cost-effectiveness and the enhancement of the representation of Ireland's interests.
As a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, I pay tribute to our Ambassadors who have successfully operated a trade mission in addition to a diplomatic one. There is a new breed of Ambassadors who represent this country in a very patriotic manner.
Does the Minister agree there needs to be an expansion of the principle of Ireland House? Does he agree we have been slow in developing this proposal? It helps Ireland that all the agencies serving the nation are under the one roof. The sooner we incorporate this concept in our Embassies or wherever Irish land is located in foreign fields, the better. This can only be done where it is realistic, as the Minister pointed out.
As a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews will be aware of the costs involved in his proposal. There is a Government decision on this matter, going back to 1989, that where semi-State bodies are set up in countries or cities where we have consular offices or Embassies, they should amalgamate and co-ordinate their activities as far as possible.
For instance, the Ireland House concept was opened in New York in 1993 and is the most developed form of it. The accommodation there comprises the consulate, ABT, the IDA, BFE, SFADCo., Aer Lingus and CIE Tours. The Ireland House in Tokyo, opened in 1995, accommodates the Embassy, the IDA, ABT, ABB, BFE and Aer Lingus. The new Embassies in Budapest, Prague and Kuala Lumpur have a trade board representative as a deputy head of mission, making them, in effect, Ireland Houses.
There are also a number of commercial Ireland Houses in London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Milan and Hong Kong, which involve State agencies only and in some instances only some of the agencies participate. There are also a number of agencies sharing Embassy accommodation, for instance, ABT in Beijing, ABT and the IDA in Seoul, ABT in Moscow and Riyadh and ABT and Bord Fáilte in Helsinki. The committee is concerned about the matter. It is a good concept which I and the Government fully support. In so far as is practicable, we will continue our efforts in this area.
I welcome the progress made in this area. How does the Foreign Earnings Committee relate to some of the Ireland Houses, particularly where they are part of the Embassy and where Embassy staff appear to be charged directly with some of the responsibilities? I can understand where ABT or the other agencies have specific staff and there would not be any difficulty. In areas where there are not specific staff, how does the promotion of Ireland operate, apart from the Ireland House concept? Is it operational at all?
Does the Minister envisage any benefits to Irish trade from the hopefully successful creation of the Tourism Brand Ireland? I think there will be, but it would be good if the Government had a policy in pursuing it.
Have any State agencies recently opened offices, for example, in New York, outside the Ireland House milieu?
Yes. That is why I referred to the Government decision in 1989, which applies in this case.
The Foreign Earnings Committee deals with embassies, consular offices and semi-State bodies. We co-ordinate activities where possible. However, for instance, Brazil is served from the Embassy in Lisbon. Given the distance, the size of country involved and the cost of accommodation, it is not always possible to have concentrated promotion of Ireland through trade, industry and tourism in all the locations we would like.
Obviously, industry does its own thing in so far as marketing and presentation of its business is concerned. Where possible, this operates effectively through the honorary consular offices or embassies. We all share the same view that we should get the best results for Ireland internationally, based on whatever moneys are available. It is in that context that we receive good reports from the different Ambassadors around the world at the FEC meetings. I intend that we would have a report from a number of Ambassadors at the FEC meetings so they can bring people from the semi-State bodies fully up to date, who in turn can inform the industry of what is happening and what facilities are open to them.
I expect there will be some benefit for Ireland in bridging tourism and business. For instance, 400 American firms employ 60,000 people here. US business people come over here every week and do business on a daily basis. In that context, there is no reason they should not also be in a position to help promote what Ireland has to offer in terms of tourism.
I recently relaunched our honorary ambassador status whereby people in business in the United States can influence their own firms and industries to hold conventions and general meetings here. They can act as honorary ambassadors for Ireland. That is a bridge between business and tourism which I hope will be sustained.
