Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tourism Ireland has been a great story. It continues to be a growing story of publicising our country and, obviously, that hidden gem of tourism.

I have a couple of questions. Have we the capacity to cater for the growing number of tourists to which reference has been made? Is our capacity continuing to grow? It is clear that the UK is our biggest market. Mr. Gibbons referred to issues that could cause problems in the context of Brexit. I often wonder to what degree we have further capacity there. It is like a shuttle bus, as I describe it, from Liverpool to either Dublin or Belfast. Does Tourism look at opportunities to market into large populations in order to attract tourists out of season? I firmly believe from my travels, be it into Manchester or Liverpool, that one does not see much encouragement for people to come to Ireland.

Even for weekend visitors it is like a shuttle bus service between the international airport in Belfast and those large cities. This is a constructive criticism.

We all understand the flagships. I have been accused many times of dealing in the micro instead of the macro but as far as I am concerned rural Ireland has an important role to play outside of the flagships, which are to be commended. I hope the witnesses will take this in the way I mean it, as constructive criticism. Our history, archaeology, geology, architecture and more are all recorded in our libraries. When will we have a programme that will provide people with information on where they are, outside of visiting the flagship locations? That would be relevant for local tourism in Ireland, which is an important trade itself, as well as for those coming in from outside. I accept the Ireland's Ancient East initiative and the programme in the midlands that has been referred to. However, I note that we could communicate with people through a computer system as they traverse our side roads, providing information such as place names, the name of the local townland or the presence of a Harry Clarke church window nearby. That information could be sent to people driving, walking or cycling through. Surely we could give them the hidden history that will make them stay in rural Ireland for longer. I ask Mr. Gibbons to comment on those possibilities.

Finally, regarding cross-Border trade, some fantastic walkways and greenways have been created. The Narrow Water bridge is a project with tourism potential, linking what might be the most beautiful part of Ireland - I often call it the Kerry of the North - to both the Cooley Mountains and the Mourne Mountains. Does Mr. Gibbons see that project as one that can be promoted in the future?

My last question relates to the recent change in the VAT rate from 9% back up to the 13.5%. Does Mr. Gibbons have an opinion on whether that will impact on the hospitality and tourism sectors? Thinking back to my native roots, it is important to me to see rural Ireland improve and not deteriorate. We have a great opportunity to transfer and translate what is in our libraries into digital applications. Someone travelling to a small village in Louth or Meath may have a child sitting in the back of the car who would be interested in the story of Cú Chulainn, as has been referred to, or the story of Setanta. Alternatively, the adult driving the car may have an interest in architecture. There is relevant information to those interests but it needs to be captured for visitors.