Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is fantastic to see him here and I am particularly pleased he has not nominated a substitute for part of the debate, as so often happens with other Ministers.

I join with others in celebrating the fact we have come so far. As the Minister indicated in his speech, tourist numbers in 1990 were approximately 3 million and grew to 8 million in 2007. Revenue has risen in the same period from €1 billion to €5 billion. Domestic tourism was worth €0.5 billion in 1990 and is now worth €1.6 billion. There is no question that we have come a long way.

As I come from the regions, that is where my focus will lie today. The new regional set-up within Fáilte Ireland is good. I live in the Fáilte Ireland north-west area and it would be remiss of me not to pass on my good wishes to the Chairman of that body, the former Senator, Mr. Paschal Mooney. I wish him and the chairmen of all the various regional tourism authorities success in their endeavours.

Enormous challenges face our tourism industry. Senators have referred to the cost of coming to Ireland. As Seanad finance spokesperson for Fianna Fáil, I ask the Minister to use his good offices at Cabinet to determine if anything can be done to counteract the current situation whereby the cost for an American tourist to come here, because of the current exchange rates, is 100% more than it was a number of years ago. As I said in the House previously, people from Derry who used to go to Letterkenny for a night out are now paying between 10% and 15% more. That is a significant issue which must be taken on board.

I agree with Senator Burke that we must diversify our expectations of what can grow tourism and we must play to our natural strengths. In that context, sports tourism is very important. Senator Burke mentioned water sports. Surfing is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is growing rapidly in the west. These days one cannot go to places like Easkey, Strandhill, Bundoran or Rossnowlagh without bumping into surfers from New Zealand, Hawaii and other parts of the world. Such activities deserve our attention.

I wish to focus on Rally Ireland, in which I have been involved since it was the embryo of an idea. Obviously, the real heroes are the promoters and the many volunteers who have made it happen. However, on the political front, I would have pursued it from the very beginning. It was an enormous success but, as Senator Kelly said, we may not realise how successful it was. I am not sure we fully acknowledge how big an event it is and how great its contribution. I fear that because it is not the chosen sport of the gin and tonic belt, like golf, tennis and so forth, it is not given the funding or focus it deserves. It merits more attention from officials in Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and other bodies, although some have been excellent and have supported the event. I suggest, however, that we should front-load the event a little more and be more positive about it. We must find ways to increase the State's involvement in promoting Rally Ireland.

To put the event in context, the Cathaoirleach might allow me to mention a few figures. The independent research carried out by the University of Ulster shows that 125,000 people attended Rally Ireland, which is an excellent figure for its first year. We can expect up to 250,000 people to attend in the future. The event was proven to generate between €38 million and €60 million. The total investment from the State was €1.5 million. A grant of €1.5 million was also provided by the Government in Northern Ireland. This is a very positive aspect of the event — it brought the North and the Republic together to bid for a national event which was a tremendous success.

The television coverage exposed the north-west counties of Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and parts of Northern Ireland — the next event plans to take in Mayo and Roscommon — to a potential audience of 816 million. Of the 16 WRC events internationally, the Irish viewership was the greatest. A total of 62 million viewers watched Rally Ireland. To put that figure in context, an estimated 61 million watched the rugby world cup final, while approximately 58 million watched the men's singles final at Wimbledon. I wonder how much those events cost to stage. Rally Ireland cost our Government only €1.5 million.

The Minister knows of the tremendous success of Rally Ireland. On its first attempt, it came second out of 15 events held all over the world — second only to Finland which has been staging such events since the 1950s. So impressed were the WRC adjudicators that they decided we would replace Monte Carlo, the most prestigious of the events, as the launching event of the 2009 rally season. The rally will take place in January and in a region that is difficult to market at any time of the year we can expect to fill every single bed night in Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Cavan and Mayo. These are the facts but there is an attempt by some in certain quarters to devalue, talk down and underestimate the value of the event. I hasten to point out I am not referring to the Minister or to many officials in Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and particularly in Fáilte Ireland north-west. I have spoken to the Minister about my frustrations in this regard and I am seriously concerned that in focusing more on the minutiae of administrative bureaucracy, we are putting at risk the largest sporting event held in the British Isles last year. Because Rally Ireland was held north of a line between Dublin and Galway, as Senator Ellis said, the focus on it was not the same as it would have been if it were held in Clonliffe College or Tullamore, as we embark on a new regime.

The investment in the event and the proven benefits in revenue and tourist numbers should be examined because the figures do not lie. The University of Ulster conducted independent research into the impact of the rally, although officials in Fáilte Ireland were not happy with the figures. They sought a different set of results from the University of Sheffield but its results were also positive. The officials questioned whether the number of people who travelled to Ireland for the event was as high as the University of Ulster found. However, the study proved the event provided value for the taxpayer's money. How could it be anything else when an allocation of €1.5 million returned €50 million and exposure to 816 million people worldwide, which was more than the rugby World Cup final and the Wimbledon men's tennis final?

While many people in the Department, Fáilte Ireland, particularly in the north west, and Tourism Ireland are doing a fantastic job, the Minister must provide leadership. I appeal to him to take an interest in this event to ensure we do not lose the greatest tourism asset that has ever come the way of the north west, apart from its natural attributes. The rally is not weather dependent and it is tailor-made for us.