Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed with the Minister of State's response. The ESB is a semi-State company. The response given is a typical Civil Service one. I do not mean that as a personal criticism as I am sure the Minister of State only had sight of the reply before coming into the Chamber.

The biggest tourist attraction we have in this country is our people. To downgrade Number Twenty Nine to an unguided attraction would be devastating. It is important people have access to a person who can give them the history of the house whether in English, Irish or French. The tour guides involved are skilled and take personal pride in their work. They also acknowledge the great work done by the ESB. These people are not seeking to look after their own needs. They want to ensure development of a quality product that will attract more tourists to this city and country.

As I stated earlier, I am disappointed with the quality of the response. It is a standard response, with little understanding of what tourism is about. As I said earlier, the tour guides are prepared to make further sacrifices to ensure the financial viability of this museum. Dublin is famous for its Georgian buildings. It is important we have people who can inform visitors about how families in those houses lived and about the people who served in them in none too good circumstances.

I ask that the Minister of State report back on this matter to the Minister. I believe a workable solution can be found. The staff are more than willing to engage. This is a unique product which interprets Georgian living conditions at the time. It is a product that must be protected and developed not only for the staff but in terms of the number of tourists it can attract to this city.

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