Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Minister is aware that a number of the bodies under his remit came up for consideration by the Comptroller and Auditor General so it is essential that not only are the various agencies under the aegis of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism audited and reviewed, but also that changes take place as a result of those reviews and that there are improvements in governance as a result of any review that takes place. Bord na gCon is one of the bodies coming up for consideration this coming week but it is only one of a number of bodies.

In respect of the intention to abolish bodies, I do not want to cut across any of my colleagues but it seems that the Minister has very little to do in his Department, that everything is being done by bodies and that all he has to do is give out national lottery money. The reality is that there is a rash of bodies looking after tourism. At every level, simply meeting and talking to one another and reading each other's reports must be a hugely inefficient way to do business. I am sure there are very valid historical and regional reasons for the rash of bodies administering tourism but it seems that the Minister should give some thought to rationalising the number of bodies in this area. Is this the intention?

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