Mr. Jerome Casey:

Deputy Griffin asked what Ireland can offer compared to Scotland. To give an example, Dublin Castle lies on the main tourist route from the Book of Kells in Trinity College to the Guinness Storehouse. The site generates revenue from tourism of €500,000 per annum, whereas Edinburgh Castle generates annual revenue of €20 million. Edinburgh's attractions are not as stunning as some the attractions in Dublin would be if they were developed. For instance, one cannot visit the Record Tower in Dublin Castle where Red Hugh O'Donnell was imprisoned because the Garda Museum, which nobody visits, blocks access to the stairs. We are discussing this issue but given the rate of progress the Office of Public Works has achieved in recent years in turning Dublin Castle into a tourist attraction, it probably will be 20 years before revenue from the site reaches €20 million. The Secretary General to the Taoiseach must put his shoulder to the wheel in that regard.

The Deputies referred to value for money for tourists in Ireland by international comparison. This has improved in recent years. The first issues that arises is access. While there are access problems in some country areas, the two main access points have improved in recent years. The decision in the budget to abolish the air travel tax and the creation of new routes at Shannon and Dublin airports have had an immediate impact. Successful efforts to increase the number of tourists this year were due in part to supply side improvements, in other words, better access from the United States.

Ireland has probably some of the cheapest grade 3 and 4 accommodation in Europe. I will not make comparisons with Bulgaria as I am referring to mainstream accommodation. The reason for the low prices is the recession and the number of hotels in receivership. Accommodation costs have not been a tourist impediment in recent years.

We compared Dublin, Edinburgh and Amsterdam for eating out and found that Dublin was cheaper for single Michelin star restaurants, whereas Amsterdam had many more bib gourmand restaurants where one can have three courses for €29. While I have no evidence on which to base my view, I suggest that the adjustment in the menu prices of restaurants since the recession has been much quicker in Dublin than in rural areas.

On repeat visitors and ways to improve the tourist experience, we need the main tourist attractions to be organised locally. As one of my colleagues says, it takes a village to rear a child and a locality to give a good tourist experience. We also need more tourist attractions and to achieve this we need people to staff them cheaply. We have only two or three major regional museums, yet the national collections are stored primarily in warehouses in County Kerry. We need local authorities to investigate what could be provided to them on loan if they were to establish a local museum with 70% volunteer staffing.

We need to extend the value for money. It is not attracting people now. Perhaps there is a legacy issue because we were perceived as being very expensive. We need to work harder to make those fundamental changes.