James McDaid
Ceist:7 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if he is satisfied with the current brief and operation of the Gulliver Information and Reservations System; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9236/97]
Other Questions. - Gulliver System.
Willie O'Dea
Ceist:8 Mr. O'Dea asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the percentage of all bookings in the State which have been made through the Gulliver Information and Reservations System in each of the years since it was set up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9255/97]
Noel Treacy
Ceist:15 Mr. N. Treacy asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the percentage shareholding, if any, the regional tourism organisations and the two tourist boards will retain in the Gulliver system under the recently negotiated deal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9256/97]
Tom Moffatt
Ceist:16 Dr. Moffatt asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade whether negotiations with a Kerry-based financial services and data-processing company on the sale of a majority shareholding in the Gulliver system have been completed; if so, the terms in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9254/97]
Martin Cullen
Ceist:21 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the total expenditure on the Gulliver system since its inception; the amount which was invested by Bord Fáilte, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the EU and others; and the total value of transaction fees. [9261/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 8, 15, 16 and 21 together.
The House is aware that Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, which are joint owners of the Gulliver system, have been seeking potential private sector partnerships to assist in the longer term future development of the system. Against this background, the Government gave its approval on Tuesday to a proposal for a commercial partnership arrangement, but final details have yet to be formally agreed between all the parties involved. Until such time as this has been done, the confidentiality required by those involved must be respected and it would be inappropriate for me to divulge any details.
As I informed the House on 17 October last, total expenditure on the Gulliver project in the period 1990 to 1995 was £10.2 million. Taking account of membership and transaction fees of £1.6 million, the estimated net cost of the project up to the end of 1995 was £8.6 million. Funding for the net expenditure on the project came from EU development grants, which amounted to £2.9 million, Bord Fáilte's own resources of £2.6 million, International Fund for Ireland development grants of £1.6 million and £1.5 million from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's own resources.
I also informed the House on that occasion that details of the percentage of reservations made through the Gulliver system is commercially sensitive information which would not be appropriate for me to disclose.
Gulliver, which someone described as gullible, is a costly failure. The Comptroller and Auditor General criticised its operation in a value for money examination. He was of the opinion that the system had not provided the planned service. He was also critical of the fact that it was not excessively used by the travel industry. He said the cost of developing and running the system was greater than estimated, that management of the project had been deficient and the system may have been overtaken by advances in technology. The Minister was right when he said that by the end of 1995 the total cost was £10.2 million, while fee income was only £1.6 million. It is understandable why the Comptroller and Auditor General said it was not value for money.
I do not want to prejudice the outcome of the negotiations to rescue the system — perhaps it should be let die on the vine — but newspaper reports suggest that a Kerry-based financial services and data processing company is negotiating to buy a stake in Gulliver and that the deal will be concluded in the near future. It has been proposed that the company concerned will pay between £3.5 million and £4 million for 75 per cent of Gulliver and the tourist boards will have a 25 per cent shareholding. Perhaps the Minister will clarify that.
The Gulliver system was introduced in 1989 to bring tourism reservations systems in Ireland to the leading edge of technology. It did not work in the way intended.
In 1994 the Government gave its approval to outsource the management of the Gulliver system and it was decided that a third party specialist operator-investor should be sought to take responsibility for adapting and developing the system and managing the accommodation supplier contracts. Quite a long bidding and tendering process followed and it was eventually agreed the matter would be disposed of to a County Kerry company, the Foreign Exchange Company of Ireland Limited or Fexco, as Deputy Andrews will probably be aware. I do not want to give the details of the exact sums involved until the contract has been signed, and I expect that will happen shortly. I expect this will be a good marriage. This is an exceptional company and it will be able to manage and develop this system. Following the adverse comments of the Comptroller and Auditor General and others, I believe this is the best deal we could get in respect of this system and I hope it will prove itself in the future.
Does the Minister agree that the Gulliver experiment has been expensive and we need to learn from it? In the course of the examinations to which the Comptroller and Auditor General referred and the examination of the matter by the Department, are there lessons which we must learn about expensive tourism undertakings? Will it be possible to ensure that something like this does not happen again or, at least, that the kind of required background information is in place before future experiments of this nature are undertaken?
The best technology changes rapidly. When this was first introduced in 1989, its approach was radical and it was a world leading technology; but it did not develop to a point where it could achieve its capacity and potential. As no other national tourist board was involved in the same sort of radical approach, we did not suffer adversely. It was costly, it was examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Government recommended that it be outsourced. I was happy to get formal Government approval this week for the outsourcing, management and eventual fundamental development of the potential of the system with a company which has an outstanding record.
The Minister uses expressions like "outsourcing". Is this the new language of political correctness? He is really saying this operation was tragically unsuccessful. I would not call it a failure because I do not want to frighten off Fexco, which is kindly considering taking over and operating Gulliver successfully. The Minister would agree that Gulliver was not successful, to say the least. In the circumstances, all we can do is wish the proposed new operators well and thank them for their interest and for giving Gulliver the kiss of life.
Deputy Andrews will be aware that the Gulliver system was not owned exclusively by Bord Fáilte but in partnership with the Northern Ireland Tourism Board. One did not take action without going through due process and full consultation.