Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

Over the last week there has been much commentary in the media and elsewhere about the Cabinet reshuffle. There has been a very negative reaction in the media to the appointment of Deputy Hanafin to the important position of Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. Will the Leader consider inviting in the new Minister at an appropriate time after she has read into her brief? What has annoyed a great deal of people involved in the tourism industry in the west is this suggestion from the Dublin based media that tourism has been dumbed down or that Deputy Hanafin has been demoted by her appointment to this Department. Tourism is the most important indigenous industry in this country outside of agriculture. Putting a young and dynamic person with great vision in charge of the Department is of great benefit to the tourism industry and to the wider economy. With the honourable exception of Fintan O'Toole in The Irish Times, the media rushed over the cliff like lemmings, suggesting that because she had been appointed to a Department dealing with tourism, it was somehow a demotion. This was a grave insult to people along the western seaboard who rely to an extraordinary extent on the importance of tourism as a local industry.

I welcome the appointment of Deputy Hanafin to her new post. She will bring an urgency to her position, especially in light of figures I received last week which indicate that the tourism industry is still flat. In spite of the great work done here by Fáilte Ireland and by Tourism Ireland abroad, we have not yet registered any potential benefits. I hope it will not be true, but it sadly seems that 2010 will be a bad year for tourism. A good way to respond to the challenges facing Irish tourism is to appoint a Minister of great vision who comes with an impressive track record into what is the most important portfolio for job creation after the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.