Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

Yes, in the national interest. I have collected some statistics which I might as well show off. The tourism sector delivered approximately €4 billion in foreign revenue earnings and €1.3 billion in tax receipts. It underpinned 200,000 jobs in 2009, right in the middle of the banking crisis. This is quite an achievement. Tourism in general is a good news story.

The chief executive officer of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons, announced last week that trips to Ireland from abroad had increased by 8.6% in the first quarter of the year and visits from non-EU countries had increased by 12%. These figures are ahead of expectations and indicate that tourism will continue to be a big leader in our economic recovery. Dublin is regarded as an area for potential tourism growth. The Aviva stadium and the new convention centre will contribute to increased tourism figures for Dublin.

I draw the attention of Members to the Fianna Fáil tourism action plan, not least because the entire Government programme seems to be built on and copied from it. We welcome this as the sincerest form of flattery and have no objections whatsoever to the Minister stealing our clothes once it is in the national interest. In that regard, the number of Fianna Fáil policies which were treated with scorn and odium by the current Government when it was in Opposition and that have suddenly become acceptable is phenomenal. Not only have they become acceptable, they have been dressed up in new clothes and repackaged and are now absolutely wonderful. It has never happened before and I take my hat off to the Government for its brass neck.

Access to our tourism destinations and the internal transport network are very important. We support the Government's initiative in removing the air travel tax on condition that the airlines bring in additional passengers. In that regard, it is very important we protect our smaller regional airports such as Kerry and others. I refer to Kerry because it is the one I know best and is important infrastructure for us. It has enhanced our tourism capacity, not only in Kerry but in the south west. I am sure the same is true of other regional airports.

The same is true for the Cork-Swansea ferry which the outgoing Fianna Fáil Government put a lot of work and commitment into and which is now back in full swing. It is important the Minister keeps a benevolent eye on the route because it is a difficult trading market and regime. It may need further assistance, including monetary assistance, from his Department, which I hope will be forthcoming.

When people say that Fianna Fáil blew the boom and asked what it did during it, I tell them to look at the national primary roads of the country. When I was a teacher in Dublin in the 1970s and I wanted to go home to Kerry for the weekend, it took me four and a half hours. Last Monday I came up in two hours and 40 minutes without exceeding the speed limit anywhere. It is important when people come into any part of our country, such as Dublin, Cork, Belfast or Galway, that they are able to access all the available tourist destinations.

Why do people come to Ireland? I will quote Senator Ó Murchú and I hope I am not stealing his thunder. I heard him address a meeting and he said people come to Ireland for three reasons: our people, our scenery and our culture. Obviously they want to get good value while they are here. We must protect the natural environment we have and work hard to ensure our beaches, mountains and lakes are unpolluted, crystal clear and in pristine condition for people to visit. We must also ensure we protect our built heritage, castles and monastic sites and all the other wonderful things people from abroad find so fascinating when they come here.

The one problem I have is that we have traditionally been known as Ireland of the welcomes and people like the genuine Irish welcome when they come to a guesthouse or hotel. It was always part of our deal. In these changing times, increasingly one finds that reception, bar or restaurant staff will probably not be Irish but rather foreign nationals. That is the way things are; I am not making any adverse comment. We have to compensate for the reduction in the Irish input in other ways. Tourists will not fall for phoney Irishness and paddywhackery which we have seen developing in the best tourist destinations in recent times.

Tourists are discerning. They want to meet us and see how we operate and enjoy life. They want to have good food and hear our music. They want to visit our ancestral places and get good value and a pleasant reception. This is what is important. Like 42 other colleagues, I spent many weeks this year driving around Ireland on the Seanad trail or, as it is better known, the Discover Ireland trail. I stayed in various hostelries throughout the country and, invariably, found that the service and reception were good. We must talk these things up and be positive if we can.

Sport is a major growth area for tourism and that is why Fianna Fáil must be praised for the amount of money it put into stadiums and the convention centre. They were far-sighted decisions.

I want to comment briefly on the royal visit and that of President Obama. I say hats off to everyone, including Uachtarán na hÉireann, the Taoiseach, the Government, the army, the Garda and the OPW. Everyone played their part and it would be very churlish of us not to say that. The spin-off from the visits will be huge. The statistics are available and there was a very good article in the Irish Independent about the immediate spin-off from the visits. I do not have time to refer to them now because I want to refer to a final point.

We know that joint labour committees, JLCs, are important. There has to be regulation in the payment of staff and it is important for the hospitality sector. We must be competitive. Our front bench has agreed to fully support the Duffy report. However, we are not agreeing to the ad hoc extension the Minister, Deputy Bruton, seems to be considering. I was delighted he was called in by the Taoiseach and said he will revise his decision. We cannot afford loose thinking about something as important as the wage levels which have been worked out and improved over many years.

Obviously there is a clear division in Government over the issue. The Labour Party is not happy about it and I would be amazed if it could be. Some of the Ministers are not agreeing with each other, and not for the first time, present company included. There is good work going on and the Minister has our support and co-operation for anything good he does. We do not mind him stealing our clothes if it is in the national interest.