Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 239 together. The Government recognises that tourism is important to all regions, employing an estimated 180,000 people, many in rural areas. The jobs initiative introduced last year and the Government's action plan for jobs 2012 recognise the vital contribution of tourism to employment, economic activity and foreign revenue earnings. The VAT reduction on a range of labour-intensive tourism services from 13.5% to 9%, enhances the competitiveness of our tourism product. The visa waiver scheme is encouraging visitors from emerging markets to include a visit to Ireland when visiting the UK. The Government has also significantly reduced the cost of employing people by halving employers' PRSI for employees on modest wages.

In addition, the necessary structures to deliver The Gathering Ireland 2013, a major tourism development to attract overseas visitors to all parts of Ireland, have been put in place with the target of bringing an extra 325,000 visitors here in 2013. The initiative will be launched domestically this Friday, following successful international and trade launches in recent weeks.

The year 2011 saw a welcome recovery in overseas visitor numbers with year-on-year growth of 6%. While there was a marginal decrease in overseas visits in the first three months of this year, I understand that industry partners are positive about prospects for the year, with reports of advance bookings and inquiries being up on this time last year. Industry representative groups are hopeful we can achieve our target of a 4.5% increase in visitor numbers for the year.

The Government is providing over €143 million to support tourism in 2012 across a range of activities including overseas and domestic marketing, investment in tourism product and vital business supports to develop tourism across Ireland, in both rural and urban areas. I am satisfied tourism agencies are taking the necessary steps to support the sector at national and regional level.

See this speech in context