John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 14 together.

I refer the Deputies to my detailed reply to Questions Nos. 89 and 114 on 10 May last about progress on the implementation of the two-year tourism action plan. The seven key barriers to tourism development highlighted by the tourism action plan implementation group in its most recent progress report centre on concerns about competitiveness, the rate of progress in the negotiation of an EU-US open skies arrangement, additional pier and terminal facilities at Dublin Airport, restoring growth from the British market, the absence of a national conference centre, continuing uncertainty about access to the countryside and significant gaps in Dublin's cultural infrastructure. Copies of the report are available in the Oireachtas Library and on the Department's website.

There have been further developments on some of these issues since the group reported, such as Government approval of the aviation action plan on 18 May last, the submission of tenders by two consortia for the provision of a national conference centre in Dublin on 20 May and the appointment of the interim board of the National Consumer Agency on 6 June, which will ensure that the consumer agenda will be embedded more effectively in our current economic model.

The implementation group will continue its activities over the remainder of the period of the initial two-year action plan and, later this year, will convene the second forum of the tourism industry, the outcome of which will inform its final report to me. Undoubtedly, the issue of competitiveness and value for money has been the Irish tourism industry's greatest challenge over recent years. I have spoken about this frequently since I took on the tourism portfolio.

The survey referred to by the Deputy, which is neither scientific nor robust and does not include the price of access or accommodation, found that the prices of a limited number of goods were higher in Ireland than elsewhere. This does not come as any surprise. One can easily see how prices for these same goods can vary within Ireland itself. However, price and value for money are not the same. Ireland has never been promoted as a cheap holiday destination but has in the past compared well in terms of value for money when measured against other locations.

The Irish tourism industry has been working hard over the past two years or so to improve visitors' perception of value for money. Some concrete examples of its initiatives include the hundreds of special offers for overseas and domestic customers alike on the websites of the tourism agencies and the value deals offered by accommodation providers, tour operators and restaurants. Perhaps reflecting their efforts, Fáilte Ireland's visitor attitudes survey of 2004 found that in contrast with the trend of recent years, there was no deterioration over the previous year in the level of satisfaction among visitors about the cost of access, accommodation or tourism-specific services such as car hire.

We need to recognise the positive response of the industry and to be careful in our use of language. Repetitive use of negative terminology, which tars everybody with the same brush, can undermine our efforts to market Ireland abroad.

I know I am not alone in believing it is hard to beat the Irish tourism experience. We should remember that 97% of overseas visitors surveyed last year said they would recommend Ireland as a holiday destination.

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