Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom mo chomhleachaí, an Teachta Mary Upton, a mholadh as ucht an doiciméad a d'fhoilsigh sí an mhí seo caite, Extending The Welcome: Labour's Plan to Sustain and Develop the Tourism Industry. Tá an doiciméad sin ar fheabhas agus tá an rún atá os chomhair na Dála bunaithe ar sin.

I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Mary Upton, on the publication last month of her excellent document, Extending The Welcome: Labour's Plan to Sustain and Develop the Tourism Industry. Deputy Upton is to be complimented on the motion, based on that document, before the House. The greatest problem facing the country is unemployment. This motion is about sustainable job creation and is both visionary and practical. When implemented, it will make a significant contribution to our major national need, namely, jobs. As usual, the Government is rejecting the motion based on that document for no reason other than that it did not come from the Government side.

This is a particularly opportune to discuss this in the context of the constituency of Waterford. Yesterday we saw the rebirth of Waterford Crystal. Some 18 months ago, the area was devastated by the closure of Waterford Crystal and its visitors gallery. Some 480 remaining jobs were lost, with terrible consequences for the workers and their families, but those providing ancillary services were also affected. Tourism was badly hit in Waterford and throughout the region. The large number of visitors to the visitors gallery at Waterford Crystal no longer came. In October 2006, a woman from Virginia became the 6 millionth visitor to the visitor centre. Some 315,000 people visited every year. When Waterford Crystal had problems, the Government was approached to contribute less than €40 million to help rescue the plant. There were jobs in manufacturing and ancillary services but the related visitor numbers were of benefit to Waterford, the region and the country. The Government decided not to assist. It is a pity Waterford Crystal was not a bank because the Government seems to have endless money to throw in that direction. The event yesterday happened through the initiative of the company that took over and the city council.

Once again, crystal is being manufactured in Waterford and visitors will come back. They are already coming back to the city, and they will move on then through the region.

Joined up thinking is not something of which one could accuse this Government. I will always believe the Government could have saved a great deal in Waterford had it not sat on its hands and decided to do nothing.

The paper prepared by Deputy Mary Upton examines many of the practical shortcomings and it is interesting, and so damning of the Government, that the level of broadband penetration in the country arises again and again. Deputy Upton makes the important point that we need the penetration in the rural areas because, as she rightly says, the bed and breakfast sector must be protected and developed. It is obvious that, in the world we live in today, having a high level of broadband connectivity in rural areas will assist this industry that needs a great deal of help. It is a basic industry when one considers that the Government allowed all the hotels to develop, many of them in the capital, but with deregulation and the cheap air flights, people were flying into Dublin for short holidays and not leaving. There were issues regarding the tourists who brought their cars to Ireland on the ferries, particularly from the United Kingdom. Everything was allowed to drift in that regard. There was a lack of vision, control and knowing what was going on.

Deputy Mary Upton's document seeks to redress problems such as the simple one involving tourists from the Far East facing virtually insurmountable problems in getting their visas to come to this country. We have all had representations, as I am sure has the Minister, from that sector. If that problem was addressed, it would improve the numbers coming here, which is what we want. We want people to come here. That is what tourism is about.

I compliment Deputy Mary Upton. I lament the fact that, as usual, the Government does not want to hear ideas. It prefers to throw money at banks, but it is a pity it did not throw some of that money in the direction of Waterford Crystal at the opportune time.

See this speech in context