Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)

It is great to see the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, dealing with this matter. I am delighted we are in government, which gives us an opportunity to take stock of what is happening in the tourism industry and the area of tourism promotion. Tourism is one of the pillars on which we hope to build our economic recovery. It is an area in which the Minister of State has great experience, as well as an appetite to see it succeed. The background is that in 2007, 7.7 million tourists came into the country, while in 2010 the figure was 5.5 million. Certain measures have been taken by the Government as an indication of its support for tourism, such as the VAT reduction, the reduction in employer's PRSI and the changes in the system of visa applications to make us more accessible to people who want to travel. These are all welcome.

The country has never had more tourism products. Everyone's area has something, whether it is activities such as golf courses, fishing, deep sea angling or walking routes, which are being developed, or our natural and built heritage, including national monuments, and there has never been more investment. It is no big deal to put a package together. I believe that should be the job of golf courses, hotels and so on. The next question is how we actually get people in, which is the responsibility of Tourism Ireland. The products are available and Tourism Ireland must market them. There is a big question over this. Whether we get it right or wrong will decide the success of our ambitions to see the tourism industry grow. Instead of putting together packages and so on, Tourism Ireland should be working with our airports, airlines and ferries, all of which represent gateways for tourists to get into Ireland. If they are not physically coming into the country, we can have all the packages and products we want and spend all the money we want, but it will not help the tourism industry. The likes of Ryanair and Aer Lingus are bringing 20% fewer people into the country. This represents not only fewer flights and fewer tourists but also fewer jobs, whether in the airlines or in the tourism sector. Having a focused approach and working with the airlines would resolve a problem which is of strategic significance, that is, how to get people onto this island.

I have a serious question for the Minister of State about the accountability of Tourism Ireland. We give it a budget, but how do we measure the results we get and whether the company has been innovative? It is all very well to say the money is accounted for and to show what it was spent on. The question is whether it is being spent in the best way and whether we are getting the best return. For example, Tourism Ireland has pulled out of sponsoring strategic golf tournaments. We have the best golfers in the world. We have never had more golf courses and they have never been so competitive. They are open for business and they want to bring money in, so they would be amenable to various initiatives. It may be said that golf is expensive, but no holiday is cheap. The people who have these products have a hunger to bring in tourists.

One possible market is the Irish Diaspora. There are 80 million people around the world who claim to be of Irish descent and who are proud to be of Irish descent. Are we happy with 5.5 million tourists coming into the country, not all of whom are of Irish descent? It is a pretty small number, and that is just one measuring stick. I am not aware of how tourism numbers are measured. Tourism Ireland will give us figures at the end of the year and we will cry and say things are too expensive and so on, but a great deal of money is being pumped into marketing, and I wonder how effective that is.

I will mention a case in point, with which the Minister of State will be familiar. I do not feel I have received a satisfactory answer to this. Knock airport, in our region, is a growing airport and a success story. However, when a survey was carried out at the airport of people travelling from Great Britain, where Tourism Ireland is active in promoting this country, it found that 99% of those people were coming to Knock airport because they had family or friends in the area or had been recommended to do so by family or friends. Only 1% reported exposure to any sort of marketing. What about all the other British people who have no Irish blood in them, so to speak? Should we not be encouraging them to come over? We had a great success story with the visits of the Queen of England and President Obama, which earned us a lot of political capital and goodwill. This was a Red C survey. It is a shocking indictment of Tourism Ireland and I do not see how it has explained itself. As I understand it, even three quarters of the way through the year, it has no records of visitor numbers and no indication of whether targets are being achieved. It waits until the end of the year to compile the numbers. Thus, instead of having the ability to take correctional measures during the year if required, it is always a year behind.

That is my main point. I do not think we are getting value for money. We could have all the tourism products in the world but it would not make any difference. We have a few gems, such as the Minister of State's town of Westport as well as Killarney and Galway. There is a lot more to offer in the country. Tourism Ireland should not be lazy; it should be innovative. Let us measure its progress. Hard-earned taxpayer's money is being spent on marketing, but it is all a bit fluffy at the moment. We need to pin it down a little more.

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