Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire agus gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis as ucht an méid a dúirt sé anseo inniu agus as ucht an clár don thodhchaí a chur sé os ár gcomhair. I welcome the Minister and thank him for the concept and policy he has put before us on tourism in Ireland. We have had a number of debates over the years on tourism and it was always evident each speaker had a particular passion because they all brought with them experience from their own region and community. This fits in with what the Minister said about local authorities and communities leading the way. This is possibly one of the best things that can happen.

When I look back on the past debates, I remember issues being raised about how tourism was changing. We have had a fluctuating history when it comes to tourism. In the early decades of the State, we were very much dependent on Irish-Americans coming to Ireland and it was exceptionally good, needless to say. It was bound to become diluted. Subsequently, we were seen as a destination which was different and which people wanted to experience. On top of this, for a small country we have punched above our weight in many areas, such as sport, music, art or literature. This is interesting because we are in a way a small population.

The Minister was quite right to refer to the 5,000 years of antiquity and history. This makes us stand out. When it comes to discerning tourists and people who have money to spend, this carries something particular for them. I recall some years ago a survey carried out among tourists to Ireland on what was important to them. Number one at the time was national monuments, which is what we are speaking about here in the new concept of the ancient east because it is about our heritage which makes us different.

I recall that years ago, Ireland had its own entry at a particular World Expo.I may not have the exact figures, but I believe we spent approximately €130,000 recreating a particular piece of heritage from Ireland. Other countries had huge entries costing millions of euro, but Ireland won the gold medal that year for the replica of Newgrange. We can see immediately why that was the case, because there would have been an explanation of Newgrange. People marvel that our civilisation was capable of designing Newgrange in such a way that when the sun rose on the shortest day of the year, it hit that exact spot. I asked a number of architects recently if they could calculate that today. I am not too sure whether it could be done, but it underlined our ancient civilisation as a progressive people. All of our stories are not sad. There was a great deal to celebrate there as well.

What I like about this is that I can identify many of the points that arose here. I always felt that tourism was an industry that distributed the product, and also the profits, throughout the country. One could be living in an area that was not overly accessible and that might not have had a big hotel, but there might be something in the area that was a huge attraction. When I spoke about the fluctuating history of tourism and the changes that have occurred, I thought that was being somewhat sidelined. We saw people come to the cities and to places such as Killarney, and more power to them, but there had been a change over about 15 years whereby we did not see the same numbers travelling through the country as we had previously. Ireland's Ancient East is helping in that regard, similarly to the Wild Atlantic Way, which this year is to be seen at the Irish pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan. That gives us an idea of its importance. We all know how successful it has been. It was always there, but it took somebody to point out what was available in a particular area.

I will go a step further regarding Ireland's Ancient East. I understand that some people who believe they are somewhat outside the loop are anxious to come in. That is progress in itself. Many of the things we want to do not require money. What is required are marketing skills on the part of communities and others. I come from Cashel, a small town of 3,000 people in Tipperary, which might never have been heard of - although we had a few good hurlers in our day - if it were not for the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is priceless. It is one of the foremost monuments in Europe, but I believe there is a need to do more to provide infrastructure. We have no hotel that can take a busload of tourists. That tells us something about the infrastructure.