Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Senator Coghlan can lay claim to Killarney being the tourism capital of Ireland but in order to get to Killarney one has to go through Cork. The city and county of Cork must be promoted through business and cultural tourism.

Cork Airport is fast becoming the gateway and entry point to the south west but it must be resourced, debt-free and autonomous. I compliment the staff and executives of Cork Airport who are doing a good job in promoting Cork. I am concerned that Cork Airport could become a white elephant because of the charges there and other off-site issues. It is important the Government addresses that issue.

In order to gain access to west Cork and parts of Kerry we need the Cork to Swansea ferry. I congratulate the various tourism and sectoral interests in west Cork who have been actively promoting the ferry. That link to the United Kingdom is absolutely necessary and it is imperative it is restored. The people of Cork, especially west Cork, require support for that. They have had many pledges of support from people and business. What is the Government's position on the provision of monetary support through investments, for example, the buying of shares and the pledging of donations to get involved in the ferry and to get its money back? We have heard nothing substantive from the Government on the matter in terms of a cash investment in the ferry. I urge the Minister to respond to the matter in his reply.

Cork city is losing out because it does not have an active convention or conference centre. The Minister referred to Dublin. My base is Cork and I am concerned that we do not have a convention centre there. Killarney has an active convention centre in the INEC that brings in shows and various events that attract people to Kerry. Sadly, we do not have that in Cork. It is imperative that as part of its the renewal programme through an economic stimulus package the Government would assist Cork City Council in that regard.

I am pleased the Minister referred to the regions because they are important in the overall scheme of things. The Minister has seen Waterford Glass closing in his city with the loss, which I hope will be only temporary, of the visitor centre there, which was one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country. It would be a shame if that lay idle for much longer.

We must emphasise the issue of cost. Senators Ellis and Coghlan referred to Sunday pay. However, in my view the cost factor has not been tackled. I refer to the cost of getting access to this country, the departure tax, and the cost of accommodation, meals, wages and everything else. It is a major problem. I am sure that when the Minister speaks to visitors about coming to Ireland they talk about the value they get for their money. We can talk about the exchange rate and the sterling or dollar differential but compared to countries within the eurozone the cost here is significantly higher and that is costing us big-time. We need to introduce incentives in that regard.

Let us take the example of tourists coming to this country from England or Spain who are staying in a cottage and buying food and groceries. Let us consider what value they get for €100 or €200 in England or Spain compared to this country. It is absolutely daft and it is killing us from a tourism point of view. Last week our party leader, Deputy Enda Kenny, spoke about people staying in Ireland and in his opening remarks the Minister referred to taking X amount of money back from the billions that are spent abroad. However, one should look at the value people get when they go to Spain with a family of three or four children compared to this country.

Are we going to get real about the cost of tourism in this country? We have to entice people. We are all in favour of that. We have a tremendous product; a beautiful, rugged natural landscape. We have great attractions and we used to have a great welcoming population. People look at the cost of a room rather than the cost of a bed. It is important that we stop pricing ourselves out of the market. The Minister referred in his speech to Sunday rates of pay. That is one of the biggest impediments to people staying in business across the country. I sympathise with the people who are working in the industry who have to earn a wage but we must examine Sunday rates.

The banks, our infamous friends, are not helping the owners of bed and breakfast establishments, small hoteliers and restaurant owners. They must introduce liquidity to the market because it is depriving people of their livelihoods and killing off business, which we should not be doing.

I hope the Minister will have good news for the Cork to Swansea ferry this afternoon. It is important that we have an attractive market to sell in the United Kingdom with Cork and Kerry. Tourism is one of our biggest employers and we should not lose sight of that.