John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

The World Tourism Organisation, WTO, was established in 1975 to replace the International Union of Official Travel Organisations, whose membership comprised the national tourism organisations of more that 80 countries, including Ireland. The WTO became a specialised agency of the United Nations in 2003. Ireland has never been a member of the WTO. I note that a number of other EU countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden are not included in the current list of members. I understand the USA is also not a member.

For most tourism administrations, the most useful aspect of WTO activity has been its role in compiling international tourism statistics. Fáilte Ireland has long co-operated with the WTO in this area and, as a result of supplying statistics to the organisation, receives full access to WTO statistical information.

The question of Irish membership of the WTO has been considered on a number of occasions since 1975. The consistent opinion has been that the potential benefits to Irish tourism are limited and would not justify the costs involved. Both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland have access to WTO reports and indicated that Irish membership would not result in any improvement in information access. Neither do they view funding for membership of the WTO as a priority. When the question of membership was considered in 2003, it was estimated that the annual cost of Irish membership would be over €140,000 and it is likely to be even higher for future years. It is not clear if additional calls for funding support will arise.

Since the WTO was established in 1975, the scale and performance of the Irish tourism industry has changed beyond measure and I doubt that membership of the WTO would have added significantly to that performance. The Deputy will be aware of the record performance in 2006 when over 7.7 million overseas visitors came to the country, generating almost €4.7 billion in associated revenue. While I was pleased to secure a record level of Exchequer funding for the tourism services budget in 2007, it is also my responsibility to ensure money is used for the most efficient and productive reasons. Accordingly, while there is a cost to WTO membership, there are limited tangible benefits. I do not propose, therefore, to change Ireland's long-standing policy of non-membership at this stage.

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