Kieran Phelan (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

"To delete all words after "Seanad Eireann" and substitute the following:

notes the continuing strong performance of Ireland as an international tourism destination and, while conscious of the competitiveness challenge facing the tourism industry here, notes with approval the Government's response to that challenge through the proposals for reform of general consumer protection arrangements and the implementation of the detailed two year action plan set out in the September 2003 report of the Tourism Policy Review Group entitled New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action, incorporating a range of supporting initiatives and programmes on the part of the tourism State agencies."

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to speak on this important issue raised by Senators Quinn, O'Toole, Henry, Norris and Ross. We all have seen reports in the newspapers and on television about the significant variations in the price of accommodation, meals and other entertainment. At the weekend I read an article in one of the Sunday newspapers which stated that Ireland is the world's second most expensive place to visit. This is not a situation of which we as a country should be proud. We have all heard stories and seen for ourselves the extent to which prices have risen in many areas. Depending on the area, prices have risen, come down or spiralled out of control. In many cases the price increases are driven by greed and not by the need to meet wages and cover costs.

Thankfully the cost of travel by air to Ireland has fallen dramatically in recent years. This has resulted in more tourists coming to our shores for short breaks, many of them on weekend breaks. Much credit must be given to our national carrier, Aer Lingus, and Ryanair for the service they both provide by bringing so many tourists into the country. Shannon Airport recently received a huge boost with the introduction of new flights to Spain, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and France. It is predicted that this massive investment by Ryanair in the Shannon region will deliver 1.5 million extra passengers for the airport this year, bringing a huge boost to tourism and jobs in the mid-west and establishing Shannon as the low cost gateway to Ireland.

Likewise Cork Airport is booming and the announcement last week that two weekly transatlantic flights are to operate from Cork Airport is great news for the Cork region and a great vote of confidence in the airport. In 2003, 2.2 million passengers passed through Cork Airport, and I have no doubt that these new routes will add thousands of passengers. To the best of my knowledge the aircraft will fly between Cork Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, the busiest airport on the eastern US seaboard. This will be good for business as well as tourism and I hope that it will help to build further trade links between the Cork region and the US.

When the House debated the break-up of Aer Rianta and the establishment of independent airport authorities at Cork and Shannon some people said it was a bad idea. These two examples of the increase in routes from both Shannon and Cork prove that allowing these two airports to grow and develop their own business without having to report to a Dublin board will be positive.