Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I am aware of the point the Deputy is making. There is not really a plethora of organisations in place. We have two major organisations, one of which is Tourism Ireland, which is responsible for marketing Ireland overseas on behalf of the whole island of Ireland. It is a North-South body funded by both jurisdictions to carry out that task. The other organisation is Fáilte Ireland, which has a major role and is probably seen by most people as the key body responsible for promoting and developing marketing policies for the benefit of all aspects of the tourism industry.

The Deputy rightly said that there are issues of competitiveness. People who have a good tourism product have to make sure that the value for money they are giving in comparison with their competitors in other countries is as good as it was.

The Deputy is correct in saying that the type of business we can attract and continue to attract should be expanded in particular areas. There is also the opportunity to target new markets. There is no doubt that the Middle East and Far East present major opportunities. These are vast markets into which we should try to market our tourism industry and maintain a big presence, given their scale and size. Nevertheless, there are two aspects to that. To expand those markets, we need direct flights from those markets to Ireland. I have always said that and I did so when I was Minister for Transport. I signed many agreements and, hopefully, when all the works are completed at Dublin Airport, it will be able to facilitate long-haul flights.

The Deputy might reflect on what Ireland has achieved. We were the most successful country in Europe to recover after the 11 September events and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease at that time. The policies have been working to a large degree, but that is not to say that we should not always keep them under review.

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