Vol. 488 No. 2
184 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the annual running cost to the Exchequer of the Gulliver system in the years that it was funded by the Exchequer and the Northern Ireland Tourism Board. [5930/98]
185 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the initial set-up cost of the Gulliver system. [5931/98]
186 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the income the Gulliver system generated in the years that it was in operation on a year to year basis. [5933/98]
187 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the amount of money that the Gulliver system was sold for. [5934/98]
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 184, 185, 186 and 187 together.
The set up and runnings costs of, and the income generated by, the Gulliver Information and Reservation System previously operated by Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board are operational matters for those agencies for which I have no direct responsibility. However, the Deputy may be interested to know that the information he has requested is, in respect of the years 1990 to 1995, contained in the Report on Value for Money Examination of the Gulliver System, carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (Report No. 9).
In 1997, a majority shareholding in Gulliver was sold, with Government agreement, to FEXCO on the basis of a package which included an initial payment, deferred payments and an agreed investment programme. The total package was worth in excess of £3 million.
