Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No one disputes that tourism is a critical sector. Last year, 9 million visitors contributed €4.5 billion in revenue, supporting 220,000 jobs. It is a critical sector. I acknowledge there have been previous initiatives that have supported the sector, but I raise this in the context of Brexit. We cannot rest on our laurels and be complacent about the fact that visitor numbers from other destinations are up. The simple fact of the matter is that 41% of tourists coming to this country come from the UK, a figure that fell significantly in the first quarter of this year. While I do not want to cause alarm, we need to put in place a plan to mitigate this. Not only have we a decrease in the number of visitors from the UK, we are now competing with the UK, which offers a fairly similar experience to that which one can get in Ireland. The UK Government, following the Brexit vote, allocated in excess of £35 million to its marketing fund in order that it can market the country. What specific items-----

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