Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I wish the Minister well in his new post and I hope we will work as productively and cordially as we did in the transport area. I also thank him for his response. I raised the issue because of the concern expressed following the reported treatment of a Brazilian education specialist who came here to a trade fair that was to showcase Ireland. The person involved did not receive the céad míle fáilte we would like visitors to receive.

This is more than a niche market. It effectively constituted the tourism industry in Ireland in the 1980s, as virtually nothing else was happening back then. It is not subject to changes in discretionary income, unlike other elements of the tourism industry. It was there in the bad times and it will still be there if the bad times return. It needs to be nurtured as part of our tourism industry, although it is educational as well. It is a cross-cutting issue, but tourism will benefit most from it.

An education Bill was promised to regulate the schools that receive these students, but it never came to fruition. Some of the companies have a very bad name and are bringing in Chinese students but do not require them to attend classes, as they provide cheap labour around the country. If we are to maintain that tourist product, it must be reliable. It falls to the Minister to make sure that it is regarded as an important tourism product and he should talk to the Minister for Education and Science about it. The representational body of the international schools does not have any representation on the regional tourist boards, but the Minister could request Bord Fáilte to ensure that it does so because it is such an important part of the tourist industry.

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