Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Tourism; Culture and Sport her views on the suggestion that one restaurant is closing every day; her plans to combat this collapse in our restaurant sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44379/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Neither Fáilte Ireland nor I can substantiate the suggestion that one restaurant per day is closing because restaurants are not obliged to officially register under existing tourism legislation. However, I am aware that there is a high level of turnover in restaurant establishments internationally.

It is Government policy to develop and support the tourism and hospitality industry through an appropriate range of policies and programmes in partnership with key representative bodies, including the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation. Since becoming Minister I have taken the opportunity to meet each of these representative bodies individually in order to hear their concerns and to see how the businesses they represent may be supported and made more competitive.

The State tourism agencies are maintaining their marketing drives to attract overseas and domestic tourists to holiday in Ireland, thereby boosting demand for tourism businesses, including restaurants. In 2010, the Restaurants Association of Ireland was approved grant funding of €44,250 by Fáilte Ireland towards its marketing activities under the market access support scheme. Fáilte Ireland is also offering a number of business supports to individual restaurant establishments, for example, business tools for kitchen management and food cost control, business mentoring, e-business support and advice on promoting and marketing.

Fáilte Ireland has established a food and hospitality innovation office which, in partnership with key stakeholders, has the ultimate goal of having Ireland recognised by domestic and international visitors alike for the accessibility, quality and value of our food experiences. To achieve this goal the State tourism agencies must work in partnership with the industry to grow and develop the restaurant sector. This is the approach that has been taken through the food tourism industry working group, which was established by Fáilte Ireland and includes key industry stakeholders such as the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Good Food Ireland, Eurotoque Ireland and sectoral entrepreneurs such as Darina Allen. It will shortly finalise a national food in tourism implementation framework which it plans to launch over the coming months. The focus of the implementation framework is to increase the availability and accessibility of local food and to capitalise on Ireland's potential to expand our reputation for good food and to become a destination for international and domestic food lovers.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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The Restaurants Association of Ireland claims that one restaurant closes per day and the evidence for this can be seen in towns and cities all over Ireland. It has also reported that eight in ten restaurants operate at a loss and that 21,000 jobs are at risk. I ask the Minister how she proposes to address the issues it has raised. Food costs are 24% above the EU average and the joint labour committee structure needs to be examined. Restaurant operators have to contend with 27 different statutory and other regulatory bodies. Fine Gael has proposed a number of measures to deal with these issues. Restaurateurs have limited access to credit and are required to pay excessive rates. Can the Minister indicate whether she will introduce budgetary measures to address the challenges facing the restaurant industry?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I suspect that the majority of the bodies with which restaurant operators must deal come under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Obviously, health and safety issues are not in my Department's remit. The programme being launched today takes account of the costs faced by businesses, including those involved in the tourism industry, and refers to joint labour committees and the minimum wage. Tourism, including the restaurant sector, is among the areas covered by the Credit Review Office to which people can appeal if they are refused credit.

The food strategy group and Good Food Ireland are investigating the issue of food costs. The best way of reducing food costs is to ensure we have good quality local food. If we are going to promote Ireland as a food destination, we should also be promoting Irish food.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Would the Minister agree with the Restaurants Association of Ireland's claim that jobs are at risk? Does she accept this is an urgent matter and that unless something is done at Government level to protect these jobs, they will be lost?

Finally, the Minister indicated that restaurants are very much part of our tourism infrastructure. An increasing number of visitors to Ireland enjoy not only our landscape and meeting our people but more particularly they enjoy eating locally produced produce. If these restaurants are taken out of the infrastructure, it will weak our tourism product.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I accept the importance of restaurants as part of our tourism industry. This is why Fáilte Ireland has established a food and hospitality office to specifically deal with issues that are relevant to them. Organisations such as Good Food Ireland and the Restaurants Association of Ireland serve their members very well. A number of issues have been raised by them with me, on which we are working. I have already referred to the JLCs and the cost of labour, which is one of the issues, but there is also the cost of rates. Everybody in the industry is seeking that the revaluations be progressed quickly to ensure they are fairer, which was also referred to in the plan. However, where the revaluations took place for south Dublin and Fingal, the hotel valuations came down but those for restaurants actually increased. A fair and speedy system of revaluation is something we have set out in the plan. These are issues that can be addressed to support the industry over and above what I have said already.