Mr. Michael Vaughan:

I, too, would like to contribute to that question. Coming from west Clare, I have a deep understanding of the issue highlighted by Deputy Harrington. On the Deputy's question of how the State can help, we are very weak on regional tourism statistics. The national statistics provided last week cannot be readily translated into performance in the regions. The metrics we have used down through the years for performance in the regions have not been as robust as we require them to be. In fairness, the Central Statistics Office has made huge leaps in terms of bringing its data up to date nationally. While regional data collection has never been part of its remit, it could become so.

There is a statistic widely used internationally entitled the "tourism satellite account". It provides one with the information nationally. Tourism does not appear in the national accounts. As such, we would not be widely au fait nationally with what tourism contributes to the economy. A national account could be created. For example, Denmark undertakes a tourism satellite account every five years. That is a modest ask and is something which we as a federation are calling for. This would mean that county councils and local communities such as Deputy Harrington's could then put in place a plan based on real figures. This should be considered nationally. What does not get measured does not get managed. That is critical.