Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to comment on tourism, a very important topic. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Cullen, and I compliment him on the job he is doing as Minister with responsibility for tourism. There is great scope for promoting Ireland and for increasing tourism. However, we are falling down in many areas. Many new initiatives could be put forward. I question some aspects of the work of Fáilte Ireland. Some areas which could be promoted are not being promoted. The tourism authority has fallen down in respect of aspects that it has promoted heavily in the past but has abandoned in recent years.

Let us consider golf. Fáilte Ireland was heavily involved in promoting golf. Then we hosted the Ryder Cup. I am sorry we are not hosting the Ryder Cup this year, rather than the year it came, because that year Ireland was very expensive and the country robbed people who came here. I was very disappointed in many cases with the service provided by the country to people who visited to attend the competition.

When it was over, Fáilte Ireland forgot about golf to a large degree. Following this, Pádraig Harrington came into his own as a world class player and Fáilte Ireland no longer sponsored him. Perhaps it could not afford to continue sponsoring him. I listened to the BBC after he won the last British Open competition and the people who organised the British Open stated that Pádraig Harrington was the greatest ambassador ever in the history of the British Open golf championship. As a country we abandoned him. Perhaps we could not afford him, but it should be that we could not afford to be without him.

I heard from a person at home that Pádraig Harrington visited Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin to meet a young lad who was picked on the Connaught golfing team. He spent time with the lad and brought to him the flag from the 18th green at which he won his last major championship in the USA. He returned again and gave the lad his sponsorship cap. These are things that Pádraig Harrington has done, but our tourist board abandoned him at a time when we should really have dug in. There are lessons to be learned. We should have continued to promote golf. We should have approached golf clubs and hotels and told them to cut their hotel rates and green fees. Instead they went wild and now we do not seem to have tourists in that department.

There is not enough done in respect of promoting fishing, especially deep sea fishing. Very little is being done in this area and there is a great opportunity there.

My colleague, Senator Coffey, commented on our national games, both hurling and Gaelic football, and the GAA. Is there any reason why Fáilte Ireland could not buy thousands of tickets for games such as the Leinster final? Such games could be promoted in England, Europe and America. We have Croke Park which is one of the greatest stadiums in the world at present, but for the Leinster final it will probably only be half full. Why can Fáilte Ireland not work out a package with the GAA for match tickets, hotels and flights and promote it in England, Europe and the USA for such events as the Leinster final and all Ireland semi-finals, during which the stadium may not be full? Many people in this country go to cup and soccer matches in England. Some go to the USA for basketball matches. Some go to bull fighting in Spain. Why can we not do something similar?

Earlier, Senator Ellis commented on Ministers leaving the country for St. Patrick's Day. I have no difficulty with any aspect of that. Any politician who leaves the country for St. Patrick's Day does his utmost to promote the country and area whether he is a councillor, Deputy, Senator or Minister.