Vol. 537 No. 4
36 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the funding which will be made available to Tourism Ireland Limited to carry out functions aimed at promoting increased tourism; if these funds will be additional to those currently expended on tourism promotion; and the proposed marketing programmes of the all-Ireland body. [15650/01]
47 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the likely agenda for the next meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in respect of tourism and sport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16211/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 47 together.
The next meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in tourism sectoral format is scheduled to take place in Northern Ireland on 29 June. The draft agenda for the meeting includes opening remarks by Ministers, verbal progress report by the chairperson of Tourism Ireland Limited, company staffing structures proposals, operational plan 2001, Coleraine office, training in the tourism and hospitality industry; and possible business related to other NSMC sectors.
There have been no meetings to date of the NSMC in sport sectoral format as sport is not an area specifically referred to in the Good Friday Agreement for North-South co-operation and implementation.
The funding levels for Tourism Ireland Limited have not yet been formally determined by the NSMC, although it has been decided that a North-South funding balance of 1:2 will apply for the programme costs of the company. The southern contribution to programme costs will be financed out of the tourism marketing fund, B9 of the Department's Estimate, in line with the commitment for tourism marketing funding given under the national development plan, to be supplemented by additional funding from the North. The proposed marketing programmes of TIL will be determined in due course by the board of the company. The objective is that the company will be fully operational for the 2002 season.
