Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Tourism is an essential part of North-South co-operation which is why we are able to market Ireland as the island of Ireland. My ministerial counterpart in the North, Arlene Foster, has a keen interest in this and I look forward to working with her. I note Aosdána will hold its first meeting in Northern Ireland soon. There is great potential for further co-operation on a North-South basis.

The group recommended the need to re-affirm the value of tourism. If ever a name-change re-affirmed the value of tourism, it is the change to the Department's name with tourism first. It might seem to be semantics to some but it has genuinely re-affirmed the importance of the tourism industry to the economy and affirmed the work of the people on the ground. From a conference at which I spoke this morning, Knowing and Growing North America, and from meeting the Irish Tour Operators Association last Thursday, we are seen to be working on some of the actions recommended by the tourism renewal group.

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