Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank them all, first, for being here, but also for the contribution they are making to the economy, for the provision of employment and for the amount of revenue they generate, both for the State and in the economy for other spending. I acknowledge the important role the group's members play in the economy.

I was delighted to meet Mr. McNally and Mr. Fenn recently in Killarney at the Kerry hoteliers' ball. That night was another example of the high quality on offer in this country. What Mr. Tom Randles and his team were able to do that night was exceptional and it showed that we are world leaders in terms of the product we are providing. It is something the Government needs to support, encourage and nurture every step of the way.

On Government policy, we discussed the 9% VAT rate here and the Wild Atlantic Way has been discussed. I hope these outstanding measures will help further investment from the sector, particularly the hotel sector, to keep the product at the top of the international quality ratings. When one travels abroad to a four-star hotel anywhere in Europe, there is really no comparison. The standard that we have set here is excellent and it is something of which we all can be proud. When we talk about value for money, we need to factor into the conversation that what visitors get here is a quality product.

There are a couple of issues with the performance of the tourism sector in Ireland that concern me. One is the comparatively low rates of return of visitors. By comparison with Scotland, we are well behind on the number of visitors who come back to Ireland after a holiday. Even though the satisfaction ratings are quite high, visitors do not come back here. It is something that I am concerned about. I wonder how can we address that.

I am concerned about the west-east divide. Even though it has been a good year anecdotally along the west coast and the Wild Atlantic Way has been an excellent example of how to help address the east-west difference in visitor numbers, I would be concerned about visitors coming to Ireland staying in the greater Dublin area and not experiencing all of what Ireland has to offer as well. It is a different experience when one goes to Galway, Mayo, Kerry, west Cork or any county in the west of Ireland. I want to see a greater regional dispersion of visitors. I wonder whether the policy of the international marketing strategies leading to a lack of dispersion. Is this something with which the group has experienced a difficulty among its members?

On opportunities for both the pub sector and the hotel sector, something we started in the past few years and can build on is the development of a greenway network throughout the country. I was in Mulranny in 2010 when the Mulranny-Newport section of the greenway opened and when I went back last year the difference was amazing. Westport and Achill are linked up now and I noted the amount of economic activity and the number of people using that. It says everything when along the greenway, one sees a cafe that is turned towards the greenway, not towards the road. It shows the potential of such infrastructure. My vision would be that we would have the entire country linked up, that one could get on a bike and cycle anywhere in the country. That could quite easily be done. It would be a game changer for Irish tourism in that one would have transport and adventure tourism linked. One would get from A to B and have the tourism experience all linked. It is something that everyone in the sector needs to be proactive about and to row in behind.

Another area that often is looked upon as a weakness and threat that we need to look at as an opportunity is the winter season. In winter, it is cold and wet. Some would say that it is miserable in Ireland during the winter but on the other hand it is wild and untamed. With log fires in pubs, it is cosy. Other countries are capitalising on the winter with visitors coming specifically for the winter experience. It is something on which we can do a lot more. Personally, being from the Dingle peninsula, it is fantastic and beautiful to be on Slea Head in the middle of June and look out at the Blasket Islands but if one is there in the middle of January and the Atlantic is roaring, it is spectacular and it is also fantastic. It is an area into which the international marketing has not tapped enough. As the group will be aware, it is soul-destroying to have any hotel bed empty at any time of the year but particularly in the winter time. Some of the group's members might have three quarters of the rooms empty on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in mid-winter and when empty they are costing money.