Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I, too, would like to congratulate Deputy Mary Upton on putting together a comprehensive motion and producing an excellent document extending the Labour Party's welcome proposals to sustain and develop the tourism industry, which she has published.

As previous speakers said, there is much concern about the failure of the Government to take the appropriate action to create the environment necessary for promoting the tourism industry. The statistics are stark. Tourism generated €5.2 billion for the economy last year. It is a vital part of our economy. It constitutes 4% of GDP and created almost 120,000 jobs. That was a drop of 12% on the previous year, and some 35,000 jobs have been lost as a result. Almost one quarter of the jobs in the previous year were lost to the tourism industry, with 1 million fewer visitors. It is clear that the industry is in free fall at present and it is vital that the Government acts to deal with the fundamental problems in the sector that are inhibiting potential growth and, more importantly, threatening the jobs that already exist.

Last weekend, I attended the World Street Performance Championship event in Merrion Square here in Dublin. It occupied the square and the surrounding streets. The entire area was a blaze of colour with tents and marquees everywhere, street performers and people selling all sorts of food and goods. Over 100,000 people, mainly families, attended and had a wonderful time.

The idea was the brainchild of two young Dublin brothers. Dublin City Council came on board, as did AIB, and created a major tourist event which will move to London this weekend and on to other European capital cities throughout the year. It will return to Dublin and will operate on an annual basis. However, despite the fact that this is the type of creative thinking and job creation that is required, to the best of my knowledge the Government and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation made no contribution to the event. It was done on a shoestring by other agencies. This was something of enormous benefit in terms of creating jobs in the area.

There are numerous ways the Government can contribute substantially to creating the right environment for job creation and the tourism industry. At the heart of the tourism industry are good communications. Deputy O'Shea already spoke about broadband. It is scandalous that we do not have the necessary broadband penetration essential for modern day tourism. That has been pointed out over the years and nothing has been done.

Likewise, interactive tourism applications for mobile Internet devices and computers are essential but we do not have them. Better Internet access also allows different tourist amenities in an area to work together and support each other. For example, why do we not have a WiFi directory that tourists can use? Tourists are crying out for areas where they can access WiFi, and free WiFi. Also, why are there no interactive maps for tourists to use as they travel around Ireland? They would be enormously useful for tourists but there are none. Simple ideas such as that would facilitate travellers in Ireland.

We are an island nation but an air travel tax at the point of entry-exit is foolishly erecting barriers to overseas visitors. This travel tax should be abolished. It is not assisting the aim of getting money into the economy; it has the opposite effect.

Despite the promises made in the past decade, Ireland still has little or no integrated ticketing system. Every developed country in the world has managed to overcome that minor obstacle and introduce integrated ticketing. It is available in all the capital cities in Europe. It is essential that a person can hop on a bus and transfer to the Luas, DART and rail. That should be a basic requirement in all our cities. The Government has failed to take the necessary action to ensure that is available for tourists travelling the country.

Another matter which has been referred to is the question of the obstacles to overseas tourists getting visas. The Schengen Acquis was introduced not for the purpose of providing a barrier to tourism, but that is what it is doing. All the countries that are part of the Schengen agreement - we are not part of it - are experiencing difficulty in having visa applications processed and substantial delays are occurring. Most of the tourism would be from Europe, Britain and the United States and it must be remembered that there is a diaspora of 80 million that have to be tapped into, but on the other side of the world - China, Asia and the Middle East - huge numbers of potential tourists find it extremely difficult to get visas. It is almost as though the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Minister's Department are trying to keep people out of Ireland in many cases rather than encouraging them to come here.

Small and medium-sized businesses need funding to be able to operate in this area. We have statements from the SME sector to the effect that funding is not coming through and the banks are not making credit available. They need regular funding. There are many operations dealing with tourism that need a steady flow of credit coming through, but that is not available. It is high time the Government got its act together and stimulated this area. It has not done so to date.

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