John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

The enhancement of the powers of the RTAs should not be considered in isolation. It is the case that enhanced powers will be given to the RTAs in terms of marketing and product development. However, it is also important to realise that we have broken up the country into three regions for the purposes of marketing to improve regional spread — the regions are south, east and west. The idea is to emphasise not just the urban advantages but the advantages of the rural hinterlands. The local marketing initiative, which will provide funds to local marketing groups to enable them to market, should also be taken into account. In addition, there is an innovation fund which will help to build up the product in specific regions where innovative proposals come forward. Region-specific marketing campaigns are continuing on the Continent, in Britain and further afield.

I am pleased that we had a record number of visitors — 6.9 million — to Ireland last year. The initiatives we have undertaken will help to spread more visitors to the regions. There is an opportunity, in particular with regard to outdoor activities such as golf, through the Ryder Cup, to market Ireland's countryside to a greater extent than ever before.

Deputy Deenihan is correct that there is a difficulty with regard to bed and breakfast accommodation. There is a far greater number of hotel rooms and hotels in Ireland today than ten years ago. Many of the hotels can be relatively competitive when compared to bed and breakfast accommodation, which causes difficulty for the latter. It is also correct to suggest that the demographics of bed and breakfast accommodation are causing concern in the sense that younger couples are not as inclined to stay in them as was the case, perhaps because both partners or the husband and wife work outside the home.

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