Vol. 504 No. 3
32 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will make funding available to the accommodation sector to facilitate the training of staff in the conversion to the euro; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11767/99]
The EMU business awareness campaign run by Forfás provides information to help businesses to prepare themselves for the changeover to the euro. The campaign has produced a range of information that is continually updated and expanded, is freely available and has been widely distributed to businesses. The campaign has a consultative committee, which includes representatives from CERT and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, to advise on the content of the campaign and to circulate material to the businesses which are members of the organisations represented on it. In addition, the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland has run an extensive public information programme on the changeover to the euro including advertising, a leaflet for every household, and the board continues to provide information for the public, including via its web site.
As regards tourism specifically, CERT has developed an EMU workshop specifically for the tourism industry. This workshop was promoted throughout the industry in 1998. A total of 17 workshops were held throughout the country, with attendance by over 300 managers and supervisors.
CERT is working with the Forfás campaign in the development of appropriate training materials for industry and with the Association for Monetary Union in Europe on euro guides for tourism operators. Furthermore, a meeting will be held shortly, under the auspices of the Forfás EMU business awareness campaign, to review the preparedness of the tourism sector to deal with tourists this summer in the context of the euro and to see what measures, if any, need to be taken now for that purpose. The main bodies involved in the tourism sector in Ireland will be represented at the meeting.
In the circumstances, I have no plans to provide funding as proposed by the Deputy.
