Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 7: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport his views on the tourism measures contained within the jobs initiative and their impact on helping tourism here regain cost competitiveness and support employment. [1397/12]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 11: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the impact of the jobs initiative on tourism, with particular reference to the reduced lower VAT rate and the British-Irish tourism visa waiver scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1528/12]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport if he is satisfied that the tourism sector is likely to develop and expand sufficiently in the course of 2012 to maximise its potential contribution to the generation of employment with consequent reduction in the live register and thereby creating a positive economic impact; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1637/12]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport if he has carried out any studies into the effect of the VAT and PRSI reduction introduced in mid 2011 on tourism numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1550/12]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 259: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the extent if any to which he has reviewed the employment potential in the tourism sector with a view to maximisation of the creation of increased employment opportunities while retaining existing jobs; the degree to which he has received submissions from the sector in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1830/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 11, 29, 53 and 259 together.

The jobs initiative introduced a reduced 9% VAT rate from 1 July on a range of services, including hotels and restaurants. The Government also halved employers' PRSI for those on modest wages and introduced a visa waiver scheme that makes Ireland more accessible for tourists from important new and emerging markets. These measures were aimed at supporting the creation and maintenance of employment within the tourism sector as well as helping tourism businesses lower their cost base and allowing them to offer a more competitive product to tourists. The reduced VAT rate for tourism and leisure related products and services was important to correct a perception of Ireland being an expensive place to visit. This latter point is particularly important in terms of the British market, which is our main source of visitors and the market from which we have lost most share in recent years.

At this stage it is too early to assess accurately the impact of these measures on either tourism numbers or on employment in the sector. With regard to tourism numbers, we will need to consider the figures over a longer period to assess properly the impact of the initiative. In respect of the impact of the measures on sustaining employment in the tourism sector, the most recent figures from the CSO only relate to the third quarter of 2011 and do not fully measure the impact of the jobs initiative. Therefore, it will be later this year before we can begin properly to form a view on the effect of these measures on competitiveness and employment.

I am, however, pleased to report that overseas tourism numbers have increased by 6.8% in the year to the end of November, and I am also encouraged that employment in the accommodation and food services sector increased by 6,000 over the six month period between the launch of the jobs initiative and September 2011. I have every confidence the tourism industry will have exceeded the targets set for 2011 when the full year statistics are available approximately one month from now.

Improving the perception among domestic and overseas visitors that holidaying in Ireland offers good value for money was an important part of the jobs initiative measures. In this regard, I draw the attention of Deputies to the most recent consumer price index which shows that in the year to November 2011, the price index for restaurant and hotels is down 0.9% and down 1% for recreation and culture related products and services it is down 1%. However, the overall consumer price index was up 2.9% during the same period. It should be noted that the restaurant and hotels index is at its lowest level since March 2007 in terms of prices while the culture and recreation index is at the lowest level since March 2006.

These price reductions were driven by a wide number of factors, including the VAT reduction, and demonstrate the increased competitiveness of the Irish tourism market. Delivering value for money is crucial to the recovery of the Irish tourism market and this improving cost competitiveness is an important part of that.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I realise tourism is a key priority for the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, and the Government. Tourism is a competitive market and our keenest competitors invest heavily in their tourism infrastructure. The information available here so far has shown that tourism is now joining the agrifood industry as a good news story in our economy. I have no doubt that the measures the Government has put in place to date have contributed to this. In particular, the VAT reduction that the naysayers declared would not be passed on is, in fact, being passed on to the consumer. In addition, the visa waiver programme will continue to contribute because it removes the red tape and barriers that would have been in place previously. The benefits from this will be seen during the London Olympic Games with spin-off tourism here.

Interest in Ireland as a tourism destination remains strong and the key to this is our branding as a product. It is difficult for us to think of our country as a product but it is in terms of tourism. We are ranked 10th by the World Economic Forum for marketing and brand effectiveness. This says a good deal about the people who have been in charge of our tourism product. If we get our branding and marketing right then employment will follow. I welcome Tourism Ireland's new advertising campaign, Jump into Ireland. It is a global campaign to promote Ireland overseas in the coming three years. Tourism Ireland intends to have 9 million visitors by 2015, which is significant for a small island such as this one.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I apologise for interrupting but I remind Deputies that there is a limit during ordinary questions of one minute per supplementary question.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Corcoran Kennedy for her comments and I concur with everything she said. Tourism is a product in terms of marketing Ireland abroad and it is the aim of Tourism Ireland to increase the number of visitors to Ireland back to 9 million by 2016. This would recover the position to where we were some time ago.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his answer. There was a modest increase in visitor numbers to the country last year and that should be welcomed. However, with the Olympic Games and the UEFA European Championships this summer, does the Minister believe there is scope to tap into this potential for increased visitor numbers? Will the Minister provide details of plans to bring the Olympic Games torch here? Does he have any detailed plans for a programme of events around the Olympic Games and the UEFA European Championships?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy McLellan will be aware, the UEFA European Championships will be in Poland, so I do not believe it will bring many tourists to Ireland. With regard to the Olympic Games, the visa waiver was designed to allow people who will visit the United Kingdom to come to Ireland afterwards. I hope that will work. Quite a large number of people will avoid the south east of England and London during the Olympic Games and some of them will hopefully come to Ireland instead.

The Minister of State, Deputy Ring has chaired the committee in charge of the Olympic torch in preparation for the games. I am not sure if it is permitted to give way to him on this point, but-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I am sure he can pass on the information.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The committee is working very hard and we have a number of cultural events, both in Ireland and Britain. Naturally enough, Londoners will be fed up with all the people who will be there, even though they have an interest in sport themselves. We are targeting them and we are also targeting people who would usually go to London that year and encourage them to come to Ireland. We are organising a number of cultural events in Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway and places like that. We are working hard and we are trying to target the displaced people who might otherwise go to London. In spite of being criticised about not getting teams, we are doing well in the tourism and business part of it. We have got €200 million worth of contracts already and we are expecting that to rise to €500 million. It is all good news for the country.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to hear about all the efforts being made by the Minister of State to bring visitors into the country. I hope that he drags some of them to the midlands and not just to the more established tourism areas.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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He left out Mayo, which surprised me.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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We have a fantastic product in the midlands and I feel that it has not been exploited to its full potential. We have a science centre in Birr and we have got fabulous bog lands and waterways. I really feel that the potential is there and I encourage the Minister of State to visit us and exploit that potential.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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Does the Minister have any specific figures on the increase in visitors from countries in respect of which a visa waiver was granted to increase trade? Has there been an increase in trade from those countries? I ask the question because business people who are interested in trading in Ireland are having difficulty in obtaining visas. It is a hindrance to the development of trade in Ireland. It has been raised with me by Ennis Chamber of Commerce, among other trade bodies. Has the Government those specific figures and does it intend to address the problem more broadly than in respect of the emerging markets, which have already been granted a visa waiver?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The number of tourists coming in from Australia and the developing markets - mainly India, China and the Middle East - has seen double digit growth in 2011. Growth was at 18% up until the middle of the year, albeit coming from a very low base, and the overall figure was 10%, which is really good. Our biggest growth was from those new emerging markets, albeit a small part of the tourist numbers that come to Ireland.

It is a little bit hard to read it in some ways due to the UK waiver system, because if a person already has a UK visa, he or she does not need a visa to come into Ireland anymore. Therefore, when we see the number of visa applications for Ireland falling, it is hard to know whether we interpret that as fewer people coming in or as people just using their UK visa. However, the Government understands that we need to do a little bit more on visas. I had a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Justice and Equality about that. When I travelled to India and the Middle East, that message comes back strongly. It was an issue raised at the Global Irish Network. Notwithstanding security concerns, we can do more on the visa front and in giving visas to investors.

One factor we must take into account is the fact that we are part of the common travel area with Britain. Giving people access to Ireland must be co-ordinated with Britain, or we may lose the common travel area. I would love Ireland to be in Schengen, so that people would not need a visa to travel from other parts of Europe to Ireland. We cannot do that now because we would have to leave the common travel area, which would mean border controls with London. It is a price that is too high to pay. We will still do as much as we can on visas.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I do not want to rain on the parade in respect of the growth in passenger numbers, but while I accept there has been a modest increase in tourism activity, have the numbers presented factored in the ash cloud of 2010? Has the Minister seen a particular spike in tourism growth as a result of the reduction in VAT?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Growth has been quite bumpy. Growth was very high in the first half of the year, which probably reflected the fact that the ash cloud depressed the number of tourists coming to Ireland in the second half of the previous year. Growth was slightly negative in some of the later months of the year, but if the airport figures area anything to go by, December is very good. There was an 11% increase in people using Dublin Airport in December 2011, when compared with December 2010. That is very encouraging. Events in the world economy and in the eurozone could present problems for us this year. It will be hard for us to meet our 4.5% growth target if our major markets go into recession.

The VAT change helped to address the perception of Ireland as a high cost destination. A visitor attitude survey published today shows that there has been a considerable improvement in visitor attitudes to Ireland as a high cost destination, particularly among British tourists, which is really important.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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We know that there has been a huge drop in the internal market at the airports. I hope that we can look at more initiatives for the internal market. There has been an increase internationally, which tapered towards the end of last year.

With the Olympic Games approaching, are we in contact with our counterparts in the North? Many events have been organised in the North which can feed into our events, and vice versa. There is a great scope to attract people from both sides of the Border and from other countries.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There has not been a big fall off in domestic tourism. There has been a big fall off in the number of people flying domestically, which is a different thing. That is because people can drive on motorways to almost anywhere in Ireland in two hours. Why would someone get on a aeroplane when he or she can travel quicker and cheaper by car?

There has been some contact with the North. Tourism Ireland is an all-island body. My meeting with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster MLA will be taking place in the next couple of weeks, so we will certainly be discussing things then. This is a very big year for Northern Ireland, due to the Titanic celebrations and there will be some events in Cobh as well to match that. The Irish Open is also going North for the first time, which some people have mixed feelings about, but that does not signal much more co-operation between the North and South when it comes to tourism.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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It is open to all.