I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 93 and 94 together.
At present, there are seven tourism regions, six of which are served by regional tourism authorities, RTAs, established by Bord Fáilte and the seventh, the mid-west, by Shannon Development.
The allocation of funding to the regional tourism authorities is a matter for Bord Fáilte and I understand that details of the subvention are contained in Bord Fáilte's annual reports and accounts.
The Deputies will be aware that a review of the RTAs was carried out in 1999. One of the key features to emerge from the review process was the introduction of a formal contract which would provide clarity for RTAs on critical issues such as Bord Fáilte funding, visitor servicing requirements, marketing and promotion programmes, tourism development strategy, and the co-ordination role of the RTAs. These contracts were intended to set out the role and what is expected by Bord Fáilte of the RTAs, including performance indicators. I am confident that the new contractual framework, which marks a major advance in the regional administrative structure, will give increased clarity and focus to the work of the RTAs enabling them to maximise their contribution to regional and national tourism performance.
Bord Fáilte has a regular series of meetings with the RTA managers which allow the RTA perspective an opportunity to inform BFE policy and, indeed, its ongoing briefing both of myself and my Department. Following the tragic events in the United States on 11 September, both myself and officials from my Department have met regularly with senior management from both Bord Fáilte and Tourism Ireland Limited, the new all-island marketing company, and with a high level delegation from the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, ITIC, which represents all strands of the industry, to take stock of the situation and to ensure an appropriate response.