Results 121-140 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Departmental Staff (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: We are finalising that strategy at present. With all the IT industries we have in the country, coupled to our imagination and the traditions we have of storytelling, art, drawing and creativity, there can be a very successful industry. There is great potential for it and that is why we are working on that strategy.

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I am aware of the difficulties that many hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses face in meeting the cost of local authority charges and have written to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding these costs. The issue has also been discussed and considered at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Renewal, of which I and the Minister for Environment,...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I accept it is an important issue and that is why we have put into the plan that we will expedite the revaluation of the whole country. It is quite a heavy burden, particularly on hotels. Where revaluation has taken place hotels' rates have been reduced. I understand rates account for nearly 7.6% of the operating costs for hotels whereas for other retailers it is between 1% and 4%. It...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: That is one issue hotels have raised with me. In other cases, many of them shut down bedrooms and keep a bar open. There are various ways of operating. If there was a more up to date and equitable revaluation then it would be within their power to be able to pay because they would be able to see it was fair. Another issue to which I referred briefly in my answer is that all of the burden...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will know I met NAMA and senior officials in my Department and from Fáilte Ireland to discuss the issue of hotels generally. They have assured me that they are not in the business of propping up hotels, but at the same time they have to take an economic valuation to ensure there is not a fire sale because that would not be in the best interests of the industry. They are very...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As I informed the House previously, I received a number of representations from the car rental industry throughout 2010 seeking support on the basis that it was required to provide additional car hire capacity for tourists. The matter was also raised with me at meetings with other tourism interests in the early part of the year. The concerns expressed to me related mainly to the...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I accept that over the next few years with the aim to increase tourism there will obviously be increased demand. It is interesting that the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, of which the Car Rental Council is a member, did not look for support for the car rental sector for next year in the budget. It did last year.

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The car rental industry should look to see what works well in other countries. I accept car hire is an important part of the rural tourism trade. It is the means people use to get around the country. When the industry looked to have the scrappage scheme extended, the Department of Finance was anxious not to do so because by extending it to used cars, which is effectively what the rental...

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, a high-level co-ordinating group, chaired by my Department, is identifying the opportunities that may arise for Ireland across the sports, tourism and cultural sectors from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The group was established in November 2009 and has met five times to date. The sixth meeting of the group is scheduled to take place before the end of...

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I suspect the Deputy might be surprised. What was interesting was that a nation such as the United States would choose the National Aquatic Centre and state it was one of the best facilities it had seen anywhere in the world. We have been very quick to knock and condemn it and yet the United States acknowledged it was one of the best facilities available. I suspect there will be a huge...

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: It depends on the sport. Where we have top class facilities, people are using them. I am aware that the athletes all have to travel and participate in training camps abroad because we do not have the facilities. The facilities have not yet been developed in the Campus and Stadium Ireland.

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: We would not aim to attract those athletes but perhaps individual sports. Our boxers are perhaps our best prospect for medals in the Olympics. Of the 24 Olympic medals we have, I believe boxing accounts for 12 of them. The boxers are all training in Ireland. It depends on the sport.

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As they say, res ipsa loquitur.

London 2012 Olympics (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Enterprise Ireland earlier this year organised a two-day visit for a delegation from the Olympics to discuss business opportunities. In October, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, went to pitch on behalf of Irish firms such as building contractors, and Enterprise Ireland has held information evenings with the Olympics organisers. Up to 50 Irish firms...

Film Industry Development (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As Deputies will be aware, the benefits of film and television production in Ireland include not only job creation in the industry but positive spin-off effects for promoting Ireland as a tourist destination and as an industrial location for all aspects of creative endeavours. The Irish audiovisual sector was valued at €557.3 million in 2008, equivalent to 0.3% of GDP, and it employs...

Film Industry Development (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Any discussion we will have on this tax relief would be similar to that on the 12.5% corporation tax rate as we would all agree on the matter. It is an essential relief, not only because of its economic value but also because of the number of people it facilitates employment for and the way it supports the creative sector and not just the technical side. There is also a knock-on effect for...

Film Industry Development (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: If only all questions were like this. The Deputy is absolutely correct and the issues will be addressed in the strategy, which I should publish quickly.

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I proposed to take Questions Nos. 31, 42, 46 and 47 together. As I said in my response to the earlier priority question, the tourism figures to date for 2010 reflect very difficult conditions, including global economic difficulties, loss of consumer confidence, exceptionally bad weather in the early part of the year and the negative impacts of the Icelandic volcanic ash on air travel....

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The tourism renewal group, tourism renewal implementation group and forum of major tourism businesses, which was attended by all the major airlines and was organised by me, all recommended the abolition of the air travel tax. This view must, therefore, be taken seriously. I am concerned that the tax is having a serious impact on tourism. In light of the many other factors which came into...

Tourism Industry (24 Nov 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I assure the Deputy that the issues he raises are being discussed in the context of the forthcoming budget. The industry is the one element that will ensure the strategy is implemented for the benefit of the tourism sector. I have never encountered as enthusiastic and resilient a group as those involved in tourism. The industry is determined to ensure it is a success and the Government is...