John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy and I will need to agree to disagree. If I had taken Dublin out of the eastern region, I would have needed to ensure Dublin was marketed on its own. The market has completely changed. We now have cash-rich and time-poor visitors coming to Ireland. People are booking at shorter notice and coming for shorter breaks. I will deal specifically with the eastern region as requested by Deputy Wall. Dublin is the third most popular capital in terms of visitors. We have indications that it is becoming even more popular among visitors from the European Union and even beyond. I hope it will soon have a new conference centre resulting in additional visitors to Dublin.

Dublin is marketed with the east to ensure those interested in coming to Dublin are aware of an entire hinterland extending far beyond Dublin, which is of equal if not greater interest to a potential visitor depending on his or her preference. We are marketing not just Dublin, but the entire eastern region. To this extent the eastern region outside Dublin will have the advantage of benefiting from the attractiveness of Dublin. Equally visitors who may prefer to be predominantly in the countryside can decide to visit Dublin also, thereby benefiting Dublin. Dublin and the eastern region are marketed together to ensure they can gain a mutual benefit. People understand that they can compare and contrast and will have alternatives by coming to the eastern region. They can have an urban or rural experience or can have both.

It makes sense to promote the area as a region. In an international context we are seen as a very small dot on the periphery of Europe. Dividing the country into three super regions such as these makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective. Introducing super regions is not the only initiative. Fáilte Ireland is investing €60 million in promoting regional tourism in 2006. I believe this will be a record year for Irish tourism, all things being equal. I am interested in seeing a greater degree of equivalence between the regions and the sectors. In other words I want to see less disparity between the larger urban centres and the rural regions, which is best achieved by marketing each of the super regions individually to provide the contrast.

See this speech in context