Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he has received confirmation from the Department of Finance regarding the availability of national development plan funding for projects falling under the remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32229/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Within the remit of the Department, the National Development Plan 2007-13 makes provision for allocations to the culture sub-programme, the sports sub-programme and the tourism programme.

The Department's role in the culture sub-programme relates to the development of Ireland's cultural infrastructure. The aim is to protect and showcase our cultural heritage, to support the Government's policy on universal access to arts and cultural facilities and to assist the tourism industry in product development in this area. In the three years of operation of the current national development plan, the Government has allocated almost €170 million for these purposes.

Similarly, the sports sub-programme seeks to develop our sports infrastructure by providing grants for a range of sports bodies at the local and regional level, including swimming pool facilities, and by providing supports and facilities that will allow Irish athletes to compete on an equal footing with their international competitors.

The sub-programme also seeks to develop national-level sports facilities, such as the new stadium at Lansdowne Road as well as the continued development of the horse and greyhound industries. We saw also Thomond Park open this year. Up to 2009, more than €420 million has been allocated for these purposes, which represents by any standard an impressive contribution to the sports and recreational infrastructure of this country.

The tourism programme seeks to invest in international marketing, in the development of tourism product and infrastructure, and in training and human resources. To date, the tourism programme has benefited under the NDP to the tune of almost €239 million.

As part of its ongoing work to take measures to stabilise the public finances, the Government has been examining all current and capital expenditure, including that planned in future years as part of the national development plan.

As is the case every year, NDP funds are provided through the annual Estimates process for the Department. The Estimates process in respect of 2010 is currently in train and the outcome will be announced in the forthcoming budget.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The question was a little broader than I intended. I was trying to focus on the tourism capital investment programme and I am sorry that was not in the question. Perhaps the Minister will clarify that.

The €50 million, which was supposed to be in the national development plan for tourism investment-----

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Deputy referring to the product development fund?

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Yes. It was €50 million support planned for the upgrading of and presentation to the best international standard of approximately 20 of our most strategically important existing visitor attractions, heritage and so on. I know a large number of people are not investing currently but some are. Will this scheme go ahead? These people believe they are limbo? They had prepared applications for funding and now find they do not know whether it will go ahead.

I realise there will be less money for everything and that the national development plan is a bit of a myth at this stage. If there is not be the kind of money we thought there would be for investment, perhaps it is a reason to try to refocus efforts on and repackage what we have.

Earlier I spoke about Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. I am not undermining their marketing. The Minister said they put great effort into marketing and I do not deny that but perhaps they need to change what they have been doing. I refer to products such as the gardens of Ireland which are not marketed. It is a huge growth industry but there is no way to market them. The garden owners are gardeners and are not able to put together clusters of gardens and sell them as a tour. They do not have that kind of expertise. That is where Fáilte Ireland should step in and use what money we have, although I accept we will not have the capital money we had in the past, to try to promote and help individuals.

The Minister mentioned surfing, for which Ireland is famous. However, there is nothing in terms of marketing. When people go to tour operators in Frankfurt or elsewhere, they are sold Irish hotels. It is not based on what one does when one gets to the hotel, that is, a package of activities which is what people want, but on where we have good hotels. There are good hotels everywhere in the world. We must have something unique.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I saw a fantastic television programme on TG4 recently, more by accident than design, on surfing in the west. It is extraordinary that some of the big names in world surfing have only now discovered the west.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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They have to change on the beach, however, because there are no changing facilities for them.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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That did not seem to bother them. These were high-end surfers and they were blown away by the quality of waves.

Recently, I opened Woodstock Gardens and Arboretum in Inistioge, County Kilkenny. They reminded me of the Mount Congreve Gardens, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, which are world famous, but there is no coherence in marketing their tourism potential. Many bodies working in similar areas attend the Department but each of their marketing budgets are too small to have any impact. We need to have coherence between them all in marketing. If we pool the sum of all the parts we might get a much bigger bang for our buck in the international market. I have said to many of the bodies that the Department will work with them to put a coherent approach in place and ensure their marketing moneys are best used. The Department is examining how some tourism products are delivered. For example, a hotel promoting in conjunction with a garden on a regional basis would bring some coherence and a more effective marketing cost.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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The national development plan set out ambitious targets for the tourism sector. Expenditure for tourism was to reach €800 million and for sports was to reach €991 million. I accept delivery of these targets will not happen due to the current economic circumstances. Will the plan ever be implemented? How significant will the cuts be? Were these ambitious targets just a promise from a time when collecting votes was more important? The cuts in sport have been significant for rural and urban communities which were looking forward to small capital investment in local sporting facilities. How optimistic can we be that the national development plan targets will be reached in the future?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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A substantial amount of funding has already been spent under the national development plan. Clearly, the economic circumstances that have not just hit Ireland but the rest of the world have been beyond anyone's expectations. The national development plan will still be in place. However, the economic downturn and the lack of resources will change the timeframe to deliver some of these projects. There was a strong commitment made when the framework for tourism and sport was drawn up. We need to work through its key elements with existing resources until we get back to economic growth in the next several years and deliver the balance but in a longer timeframe.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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During the summer I visited Birr Castle Gardens which were renovated over the past ten years. They informed me, however, that their visitor numbers are down to what they were in the mid 1990s. Another summer with such figures and the gardens will have to close. It is a fragmented industry that needs to be given some coherence.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I have had several discussions with the family at Birr Castle. I am aware of what they have achieved. The Office of Public Works has been effective in assisting in some of their efforts. The Deputy is correct that we cannot allow that investment to die away. For the next year, we will try to find the resources to sustain, even at a minimal level, many of these facilities and not allow them fall by the wayside.