Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their presentations, which were really good and interesting. Those in County Mayo are definitely doing something right. I visited the county last year and I am aware that it is extremely vibrant and busy. Like my colleague, I also paid a visit to Matt Molloy's pub in Westport and had a fantastic night there. The town itself was buzzing. The first matter I am interested in is the historic towns initiative. I live in Youghal which, like Westport, benefited from this initiative. Will our guests from Mayo comment on the impact of the initiative on Westport?

Mr. O'Hara's presentation was excellent, as is the product itself. He made some great points with regard to winter tourism, college students and horses. He even promoted Irish weather, which is unreal. Mr. O'Hara referred to America and the fact that it is necessary to engage in marketing in respect of it on a 24-7 basis. I do not know whether he was trying to say that Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland should be on duty 24-7 but perhaps they could operate on a shift basis. I am disappointed that Pure Irish Life Tours is not getting funding, particularly as it has an excellent product.

Mr. Casey made many interesting points, particularly in the context of the independent tourism organisations and international best practice. He indicated that the entire island of Ireland should be marketed and promoted by one body, Tourism Ireland. I hope that this would also involve co-operation via the North-South Ministerial Council. Mr. Casey also referred to repeat visitors and the fact that we fare very poorly in the context of encourage people to return here. Will he perhaps comment with regard to what we need to do to address this matter? Does the fact that people do not return here relate to not having enough tourist attractions? As Mr. Casey stated, Ireland has only half the number of tourist attractions as Scotland. Is there a need to engage in further development or marketing? We are trying to develop the Moore Street project and I am of the view that this would be a major asset to Dublin going forward. A previous speaker referred to price and value for money. Is the fact that there may not be great value for money one of the reasons for our not attracting repeat business?