Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I would be grateful if the Minister of State would convey my good wishes to the Minister, Deputy Cullen. I hope he will make a speedy recovery.

I appreciate the Minister of State's comments. My concern is focused on the five survival actions recommended in the report. The first of these is maintaining spending on overseas marketing. I support this because if a product is not on the shelf, nobody will buy it. That is important and the Minister recognises that.

It is the second recommendation, the abolition of the travel tax, which is my main concern. There is a clamour right across the industry, and particularly from the airlines where the immediate burden is felt, to abolish this and this has been borne out by the renewal group. The report states that the group considers that any apparent immediate fiscal benefit from the air travel tax is more than out-weighed by the actual and potential damage to overseas tourism earnings due to the additional cost wedge on Irish routes vis-À-vis other possible routes for carriers. That is the key issue.

Perhaps the hotelier in Kerry does not recognise what this is doing to his or her business, but the airlines recognise it. For an island country, there is nothing more important than access. If people cannot get access or it is more expensive or more difficult, the product we have on offer, no matter what it is, will not be bought. That is the key issue. Aer Lingus and Ryanair are taking planes off Irish routes and serving other destinations that are more competitive, and that is the bottom line for us. That is the biggest threat to the Irish tourist industry.

Is this being taken seriously by the Minister? He dismissed concerns about this, stating it is not an issue. His own group has now recommended it as an area where action must be taken. Is it a matter the Minister will bring to the Cabinet table in preparation for the budget and will he indicate this is the single most important issue for the tourist industry which, while employing fewer every day, employs in the order of a quarter of a million people?

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