Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the areas his Department is involved in regarding the promotion of good environmental practice within the tourism industry. [35070/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The New Horizons report of the tourism policy review group found widespread acceptance of the importance of good management practices in maintaining and enhancing the attractiveness of both the built and natural environments. However, rapid growth has resulted in pressures on the environment, including congestion, some inappropriate development and waste management systems that may not be consistent with the green image of Ireland.

For about 80% of our visitors, the scenic landscape is a factor in deciding to holiday here, which means that a major strategic challenge over the next ten years will be to manage the natural and built environments in ways that maintain and enhance their attractiveness.

The promotion of good environmental practice within the tourism industry is primarily a matter for the national tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland. When I established the authority in 2003, I made it clear that it should have a strong focus on environmental issues. Historically, Bord Fáilte was well ahead of its time in this area but its focus shifted as the organisational remit became mainly centred on marketing.

The Department has pursued the matter with the authority and it established an environment unit towards the end of 2005, the functions of which are to promote good environmental practice within the industry and the protection of the environment. It also discharges Fáilte Ireland's role as a prescribed body in the planning process.

In September, Fáilte Ireland commissioned a review, to be completed by the end of 2006, of good environmental practice within the industry. This study will allow the authority to establish a baseline from which to measure how the tourism sector is currently performing in environmental management practices. Case studies of good practice within the sector will also be identified and used to promote higher standards generally.

The Department also led a session on tourism at the recent national conference, organised by Comhar, on sustainability in the National Development Plan, 2007-2013, which focused on our recent performance and considered how we could improve and enhance future performance over the life of the next NDP.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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The Minister referred to waste management. The New Horizons programme is working well and has fostered an element of stewardship among tourism bodies. What ongoing discussions is the Department involved in with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the county managers of various local authorities?

Some time ago, I asked for an investigation into allegations that staff in a cruise company were telling customers that they could dump the contents of toilets into the lakes. That is a small part of the wider problem whereby pumping stations in many county council run areas are not working so boats cannot empty material into the pumping station. When visitors find a pumping station that works, sewage facilities are often woefully inadequate and it is pumped back into the lake. Given the serious pollution of our waterways and the importance of this sort of tourism, what discussions are taking place with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and county managers? What plans are in place to tackle this problem?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is responsible for national tourism policy and in its work it seeks to influence the policies of other key Departments and agencies on matters that impact on the tourism agenda. It has little or no involvement in direct regulation of tourism.

On the tourism side, it works through its agencies as far as environmental issues are concerned; the key agency is Fáilte Ireland. As a Department, we are represented on various State environmental fora and we are actively involved in the steering group for the national spatial strategy. The Department has an input into the national spatial strategy and all of the regional planning guidelines, where it has taken a clear line in support of positive, balanced policies to conserve the basic physical tourism resource and allow for sustainable tourism development. We have also sought to ensure that concern for the environment was a key theme during the recent tourism product development scheme and that if there is to be a forthcoming scheme, it will have an even stronger environmental focus. A new scheme would ensure there would be a voluntary environment assessment.

Since we set up the environmental unit within Fáilte Ireland, it has produced position papers on environmental issues which impact on tourism as a means of influencing future development of the environment, including papers on litter, landscapes, wind farms and fish farms.

I reject Deputy Gogarty's contention that tourism is a polluter. There is no evidence that tourism, per se, is a significant source of damage to the environment and I reject any assertion to the contrary. It might be argued that tourism is responsible for a large number of one-off holiday homes but these are the product of local planning decisions and not driven by tourism policy or programmes.

The Department asked Fáilte Ireland to establish the environmental unit and it is now in place. We pursued this so vigorously because we understand that if the environment is damaged the industry will suffer because Ireland's green image is vital to it.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The time for this question has elapsed.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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In the interests of fairness, may I make a quick intervention?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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As the Deputy is aware, six minutes are allocated for each question.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Is the Minister embarrassed by the lack of action by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities?

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his attention has been drawn to the 8% decline in real terms in visitor spend here between 2000 and 2005, that the number of pure holidaymakers has remained static over those five years, that there was a net decline in US visitors and that between 1999 and 2004 there were 3.3 million fewer bed nights in western regions; if his further attention has been drawn to a decline in car touring and a loss of general competitiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35052/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy presents an unduly dismal picture of tourism performance in recent years and I am glad to have the opportunity to put the position in context. In 1996, 4.7 million people visited Ireland and foreign earnings from these visitors amounted to €1.79 billion, excluding passenger fare receipts. In 2005, we hosted almost 7 million visitors who generated foreign earnings of more than €3.4 billion. Most recent available statistics suggest visitor numbers could grow at a rate of more than 10% this year.

The past five years have been one of the most turbulent periods for tourism and travel in recent history. Despite this, the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in this period increased by almost 11%, while the number of pure holidaymakers grew by more than 2%. Holidaymaker numbers have increased by 14% this year and domestic tourism is growing rapidly. Furthermore, if we exclude passenger fare receipts, which have fallen as fares to Ireland become more competitive, the revenue from these visitors increased by 32% since 2000. In real terms, this constitutes an increase of approximately 11% in on-the-ground spend.

After a record year in 2000, the North American market was hit hard by the attacks on 11 September 2001 and general outbound travel from the US decreased. The number of US visitors to Ireland fell by almost 19% between 2000 and 2002. However, our North American business has recovered in the intervening period with clear evidence of strong growth this year. Other European countries have not been as fortunate.

A number of initiatives are in place to improve the regional spread of tourism. In terms of the tourism regions along the western seaboard, I am pleased the measures taken seem to be working, with a 6.3% increase in bed nights in 2005. Tourism here has a competitiveness challenge and I have stated on many occasions that we cannot be complacent. Nonetheless, in recent years our general record is one of which we can be proud.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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I remind the Minister that according to Irish Tourist Industry Confederation figures, the average spend per tourist declined by 8% between 2000 and 2005. This has major implications for the hotel industry and rural tourism. In addition, as the Minister accepted, the number of US holidaymakers visiting Ireland has declined. Typically, US tourists are higher spending and they tend to visit the western seaboard. Between 2000 and 2004, the western region experienced an extraordinary decline of 3.3 million in the number of bed nights.

Surely the Minister is concerned about the level of car touring. Visitors who tour the country in cars visit villages and stay in rural hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. The Minister did not refer to the pressure facing guesthouses and providers of bed and breakfast accommodation. To take just one activity holiday, is he aware that the number of golfing holidays to Ireland declined from 306,000 in 2000 to only 138,000 in 2004? Not all is well in the tourism sector. While many more tourists are visiting Dublin, this does not necessarily mean that the rest of the country is benefiting or that the tourists in question spend more.

Will the Minister comment on the competitiveness of the tourism sector? Does he agree that the increase in the cost of energy, particularly gas and electricity, waste disposal and refuse and water charges is affecting its competitiveness? A large number of operators are seriously considering their future. I ask the Minister to comment on the issues I raise, including the competitiveness of tourism here, which has been primarily affected by the imposition of Government stealth taxes.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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There is no denying that tourism is a good news story. The number of visitors has doubled since the 1990s, a development which most people will strongly welcome. I anticipate that this year will be the best year for tourism since the foundation of the State. Growth levels are expected to be very strong. We know that traffic from the United States, whose visitors, as Deputy Deenihan correctly points out, are the highest spenders, has increased by 10%. In general terms, there is clear evidence of substantial growth across every single market, be it North America, Britain or continental Europe. I anticipate that, for the first time, we will break the 7 million mark in annual tourist numbers.

It is true that there is a difficulty in western regions. This is due to short breaks, particularly urban-based breaks, being taken by many visitors as well as a shift from sea to air travel. These are key factors impacting on the spatial spread of tourism and tourism to rural areas, especially those which lack direct access by air and sea, and they have contributed to a decline in nights spent in tourism regions along the western seaboard.

As I indicated, a rejuvenated, integrated marketing approach combined with enhanced air travel has led to a reversal of this trend in western regions, with the number of overseas visitors nights and holiday nights increasing in 2005 and delivering the highest recorded number of bed nights in the past five years.

It is true that the number of visitors touring by car has declined. For example, in 2005, 42% of all holiday makers used a car while on this island. This figure increases to 45% when confined to the North American market. There has, however, been a significant decline of 22% in the number of visitors bringing a car to Ireland, while the number of cars hired has increased by 2%. The decline in the use of cars by visitors can be attributed to a number of factors, including frequent and cheap air access, a decrease in the length of stay and an increase in the number of city breaks. Incidentally, the decrease in length of stay is a trend evident across Europe.