Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

How will these new arrangements help to stop the obvious east-west tourism divide in this country? How will the new arrangements, which are really scrapping RTAs, help the ailing bed and breakfast industry? Traditional bed and breakfast establishments, which were hitherto the pillar of rural tourism, are now closing right across the country every day. How will the new arrangements bring back the growth of activity holidays here? We have been losing market share in areas such as golf, hill-walking, angling, equestrian sports and cruising to Scotland, Wales, England and continental Europe. How will these new arrangements — the breaking up and scrapping, more or less, of the RTAs — help stem the difference between east and west and the other factors to which I referred?

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