Mr. Padraig Cribben:

To add a couple of things in relation to the comments made by Deputy Griffin and the whole question of dispersal, the latest figures I have seen show that 35% of foreign tourists do not move outside Dublin. That creates a massive challenge. That challenge is being addressed, initially through the Wild Atlantic Way, but even if one looks at the figures for that, my understanding is that while it was very successful last year, two thirds of all visitors to the Wild Atlantic Way were domestic visitors. There is still a great deal of scope there and it will pay more dividends over time. There is an initiative due to happen in 2015 which is being broadly termed "south and east" and involves a trail from the Boyne Valley through to the heritage centres in the south east. In 2016 or thereabouts, a whole waterways section will relate to the Shannon and the canals to increase the dispersal.

They are important initiatives and one of the keys to them is that the agencies continue to have the funding to advertise, support and market them as there is no point in having the amenities if one does not have the funding to market them. They have seen their budgets reduced significantly in recent years. Another factor, which only recently came to hand and is very worrying, is that if one looks at the Office of Public Works, which has significant responsibility for tourist attractions in Ireland, its capital allowance for this year is almost nil. From a multiple of millions of euro, the figure I have heard mentioned for this year is €360,000.

A lot of the attractions that are in State ownership are going to need refurbishment and investment, and investment will not be possible. If it is not possible, that will hamper the possibility of getting one's dispersal.

Winter is an opportunity. I lived in Kerry for many years. I have been that soldier at Slea Head in January and June and I can say I would prefer to be there in June than in January. It is a big challenge and it will revolve around very significant offerings.

I have two points to make on the issue raised by Deputy Patrick O’Donovan. As Mr. O’Keeffe said, the commentary has changed significantly and primarily because of the input, much of it behind the scenes. The issue is not about alcohol misuse, it is about cheap alcohol. That is very significant. What we saw for a long period is what I would call lazy journalism. I do not wish to talk about any particular media outlet but when one looks at the news if there is an incident that happened, which was clearly due to alcohol that was not bought in a pub, what one sees on the screen is a shot of a barman pulling a pint. That can only be described as lazy journalism. The situation has changed significantly. The point Mr. O’Keeffe made about competition law and our dealings with breweries is well made.

I am pleased to see that almost all members are in favour of the one thing we would all like to see, namely, the need to establish a forum on the Irish pub that has a broad base and cross-party support so that we can look at issues that will feed into supporting the continuation and viability of the trade that will, in turn, support the viability and growth of a good tourism sector.