Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I was not for one moment suggesting that the visa was a long-term issue. I stated that having the visa will ensure long-term growth of the tourism industry as I see great potential there. I accept what Deputies stated on language skills. One of the exciting initiatives of recent years has been the development of the Confucius Centre in UCD, where students can take Mandarin along with other academic subjects, and there is huge potential there.

Tourism has been included in the credit review group for SMEs refused credit by the banks. Anybody involved in the tourism industry can refer to the credit review group with the hope of freeing up money. I accept that it is critical to the future of these small businesses which are the backbone of the tourism industry.

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