I propose to answer Questions Nos. 156 and 161 together.
As Minister with responsibility for tourism, I, together with my Department, am responsible for the formulation and development of national tourism policy. This policy is, in turn, implemented by the main tourism agencies under my Department's remit, namely Bord Fáilte, CERT and Shannon Development. These agencies report directly to the Department which monitors their respective performance against policy objectives, including overall expenditure of grants-in-aid, from the Department's Vote. However, the agencies retain day-to-day responsibility for their expenditures and for the operation of schemes and services provided by them to the tourism industry. Further information about these bodies, together with the mission, goals and strategies of the Department are to be found in the Department's strategic management statement, 1997-1999, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library.