Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I agree with Deputy Ring that those of us on this side of the House are prepared to share the pain but not the blame. If just one thing comes from this debate, it should be that this House needs to retake responsibility for the running of this country. When it comes to job creation, this House does not have any say as IDA Ireland is responsible for the matter. When it comes to tourism, we have to defer to Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. If one goes right across the spectrum, one will always find other agencies to which these duties have been devolved. This House does not have any responsibility in most areas. When one is in opposition, one does not get an opportunity to contribute. I agree with Deputy Ring that when the country was going well, nobody asked us for ideas

I had a good experience when I was my party's spokesperson on defence. Every question I asked of the Minister for Defence had to be answered in the House. By contrast, when I ask a question in my current capacity as spokesman on tourism, culture and sport, I find that an agency is responsible for the matter. The sooner this House reclaims total responsibility for public affairs, the better. The Minister for Health and Children, for example, should have to answer to this House when there is a problem in a hospital. When things go wrong, Ministers should take responsibility and resign if necessary. This country's public service will not function properly until that happens. This House has reneged on its responsibility to those who elected its Members to do a job. We are allowing others to do the job we should be doing. We take the credit when they do something good and we run when things are going bad. That is what is really happening in this House.

I would like to mention the latest independent indicator of how well we are doing. The figures we get from the Government are inaccurate because they are all over the place. We do not know what the position is. An adjustment of €30 billion was mentioned this evening following the bond market review. It was suggested that we should provide for such a cut in public expenditure over the next four years. I suppose the company in question, Davy, is fairly neutral in this regard. It has been reasonably accurate to date. It was quite optimistic last year. According to the account it published yesterday, GNP is expected to decrease by 1.5%, in volume terms, in 2010 and to revive slightly in 2011. GDP will be almost flat this year, with growth of just 0.3%. Next year could see volume growth of 1.9%, supported by demand for exports. If those figures are correct, we face major trouble as we attempt to sustain the services we currently provide.

As Fine Gael's spokesman on tourism, culture and sport, I would like to focus on tourism before I conclude. If leadership is shown in Ireland and in overseas markets, we can regain some of the tourism market share we have lost. Ireland is not realising its full potential as a tourist destination. If its wide range of natural and cultural assets were developed in a sustainable manner, Ireland could acquire a clear position in the market and be re-established as an outstanding tourist destination. The significant downturn in overseas tourism demand since 2007 has had a detrimental impact on the tourism sector and the wider Irish economy. In the three years since 2007, Ireland has lost 2 million overseas visitors and at least €1 billion in revenue, with a consequential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €500 million in tax revenue. That is an indictment of those who are supposed to be attracting tourists to this country.

The difficulties currently being experienced by the tourism sector go back further than the current recession. Marginal growth rates in overseas tourism since 2000, allied to a net decline in overseas holiday trips, have resulted in the loss of profit share to key competitors. It is all about competitiveness. One of the reasons people are not coming here is due to competitiveness. In its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009, the World Economic Forum benchmarked the tourism and travel sectors of 133 economies. While Ireland is the 18th ranked country in terms of overall competitiveness, a closer examination of these rankings reveals issues of concern for Ireland. These issues can be summarised as follows. Ireland is ranked seventh out of nine countries in overall competitiveness within the north western European competitor set behind Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

In regard to access, as we know the €10 travel tax is definitely having an effect on the number of people coming to this country, and I have mentioned it on a number of occasions. Whether one agrees with Michael O'Leary of Ryanair or not, he stated that if it was removed, he could bring an additional 6 million tourists to this country over a five year period and create 6,000 jobs.

I heard Deputy Noonan mention that a large number of Chinese people are visiting the UK but they cannot use the same visa to come to Ireland. Surely, given the relationship between both islands that the visa, which will have been well checked by British intelligence and so on for security purposes, should entitle them to come to Ireland as well. They are two very simple initiatives which the Government could take in the morning that would certainly boost the number of tourists coming to this country.

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