Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators for this fine debate and for their thoughtfulness. I have taken a careful note of the issues raised as I may be unable to respond to all of them. However, significant themes emerged.

Transport and access to the island is important, as Senator Cummins stated. A successful tourism industry cannot be developed unless safe access to and from the island at a reasonable price is available. That is the case increasingly and the advent of low-cost airlines has made that possible. Many Members will recall paying £200 to travel to London. Everybody sat at the front of the airplane because companies were the only ones buying seats, as the ordinary consumer could not. Those were different days and there has been a sea-change in this regard. The advent of low fares has been a major factor.

Senator Ellis referred to sun holidays and the number of hotel bedrooms available in Ireland. He advocated the development of this aspect of the industry. I agree with him that the product base must be maintained, which means ensuring the number of hotel rooms remains at a sensible level. We do not need to go overboard in this regard.

I thank Senator Kelly for his thoughtful remarks, which I intend to study further, and, in particular, his analysis of the relationship between Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and how that feeds into Dublin Tourism and Shannon Development. It is not a pretty picture and the question is whether the structure is practical and does the job. When one considers the job that must be done, all these organisations hit the spot when the political situation is taken into account. If one were dealing only with commercial considerations, the structure would not be designed this way but when forced in the broader context of the Good Friday Agreement to design a political structure, the current model makes sense because it delivers a structure that otherwise may not be delivered. Any structure is better than none but I intend to keep an eye on this to see if we can make it work better. It works well currently in that Tourism Ireland, in particular, has a mandate to market the island of Ireland and nobody had such a mandate previously. The Northern Ireland Tourism Board and Bord Fáilte did not do this in a formal sense. For the first time since the Agreement was reached, an organisation is in place, which is active in 22 markets with the job of marketing the entire island.

Senator Boyle stated the number of people travelling abroad on holiday is more than the number of tourists coming in, which is a new phenomenon we must address.

Senator Buttimer asked about the revenue generated by the Ryder Cup. According to one consultant, the economic benefit of holding the event amounted to €143 million, which was significant. I thank Senator Ó Murchú for tracing the history of aspects of tourism, which we should all remember.

I also thank Senator MacSharry for his comments about Rally Ireland. I will examine this issue. The rally was a major success and I pay tribute to everybody who took part. The next event also will be a success. It is an all-island production and anything of this nature deserves our full support because it has benefits far beyond the economics involved. I will take a close look at that.

Senator Burke referred to the importance of activity holidays while Senator Coghlan commented on the need for improved competitiveness. He acknowledged that tourism is a competitive business, as we all know. It was not always the case. At one time visitors travelled to Ireland only from St. Patrick's Day onwards. However, we compete with other countries for every passenger to Ireland and must invest in this regard. I confirm that the mid-Shannon tourism infrastructure investment scheme, which the Tánaiste, Deputy Cowen, and I will announce shortly, clears the way for us to put in place the formal commencement of the relevant legislative provision. This is a tax scheme the Minister for Finance announced for eligible developments to improve water sports, training and adventure sport facilities, education, tourism, visitor attractions, etc. in the mid-Shannon region. We will move ahead with that in the near future.

This has been a good debate. I have not gone into every aspect of it but there are a number of clear messages, one of which is that for the first time we must market the island of Ireland as an all-island product. We no longer have the luxury to develop our tourism industry as two separate products. We must understand that competitiveness is what it is about — prices, tax breaks and so on — and be able to compete with and beat other nations in these areas. We must learn also to understand and handle in a caring, sensible way the significant and increasing number of non-nationals working in the industry. We must deal with tourism on a regional basis rather than concentrate on the capital city. The convention centre is coming on and it is important to get it up and running as soon as possible.

We need also to understand the importance of synergy. We must market the whole island of Ireland and win business such as the Ryder Cup, Rally Ireland and other national recreational, film, environmental or sport events that can be run on an all-island basis, thereby bringing revenue to the island. We must continue to develop products on an all-island basis. The River Shannon is a sleeping giant which requires further investment. I hope to ensure it gets that investment and continues to grow as a major product.

The importance of access and low prices is paramount. Access to and from the island must be maintained at a sensible price level. If we follow that overall plan and drive it hard, we will stay close to the top of the world's tourism success league. I thank the Chair and all Senators for their participation in today's discussion.