Mr. Paul Kelly:

Hospitality is a complex area. There are not great data available in this context but the best data we have seen show that approximately 20% of the revenue of the pub and restaurant sector is down to tourism and 80% is non-tourism related. We need great pubs and restaurants to offer a great visitor experience so there are a number of mutual areas and that is how we would try to work. Our remit as defined in legislation is around tourism and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has a wider hospitality area under its remit, as well as many other sectors. We would work on areas of mutual benefit. We need chefs in both hotels and restaurants and we need waiters in hotels and in restaurants, and so on. With regard to the mechanisms that support that, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media have the tourism and hospitality forum. Specifically for staffing and skills, we have the tourism and hospitality careers oversight group, which Fáilte Ireland chairs. That is a co-ordination group for the tourism and hospitality business sectors, as well as education providers.

They are the mechanisms to try to provide a joined-up approach.