Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I commend the Minister of State on his work in the Department, which he is undertaking with a great degree of success, in fairness.

We support the Bill. As the Minister of State has said, it is an enabling provision. We have to make provision for additional funding if and when it becomes necessary. We have no problem with that.

I do not have a great deal to say today. Tourism is one of our big success stories and we have to mind it, nourish it and try to keep it going in the right direction. The figures are good. All sectors seem to be up. We had a useful exchange yesterday at our committee meeting with the leaders of the tourism industry. Whereas we are all cautious and concerned about certain developments, there is a belief that Irish tourism is in a strong position. We should be able to withstand the threats and dangers that are coming, especially Brexit, if we all work together.

We have many things going for us in tourism, not least, our natural environment, scenery, culture, history, dance and music. More important, as we often say, the greatest single tourist attraction in Ireland is the people. The people are friendly and welcoming. We want to see people coming to our shores. Local people have a great and abiding interest in promoting their areas and niche tourism. That is not something anyone can buy.

The Minister of State will be aware of a product in his constituency at Foynes. He will be aware of the Foynes Flying Board and Maritime Museum, which operates under the leadership of Margaret O'Shaughnessy and her team. I am simply highlighting this venture because it is one with which the Minister of State and I are familiar. It has grown from a small idea. Every few years the operation expands and those involved come up with a new element. If that could be replicated throughout the country, then I have no fears for the tourism industry.

Recently, we launched the Kerry tourism strategy in Listowel. There was a great attendance at the launch. It was great to see all the players and involved parties, including hoteliers, restaurateurs and those in tourism transport. The document was brought out under the aegis of the Kerry County Council chief executive, Moira Murrell, and her team. It would make a good template for local authority tourism input throughout the country. I am not suggesting Kerry is better than anywhere else but at the same time we have a big stake in tourism and it is important for us. I believe there are counties in the north, south, east and west that have beautiful amenities but they have not been properly marketed. Anyone who has done a tour of Ireland - as we all did during the Seanad elections - will know that there is extraordinary beauty in most parts of Ireland. However, according to the figures, the north west amounts to only 5% of the entire tourism take. This area includes beautiful counties like Donegal and Leitrim. It is surprising that we cannot do better here. Corresponding figures include 12% from the west, 17% from the south west and over 40% from our great capital city of Dublin, naturally. There is plenty of room for improvement as, I am sure, the Minister of State will agree.

There is no doubt that the biggest threat we are facing around the corner is Brexit. Yesterday, the head of Fáilte Ireland indicated that it is already impacting negatively on our tourism base. Given the devaluation in sterling, it is going to be rather expensive for United Kingdom and Northern Ireland tourists to spend as much in Ireland as they have done heretofore. Almost 40% of our total tourism business comes from the UK and the North, a sizeable segment. The English are good tourists. They come all year round, not only in high season. They come for fishing and shooting. They come off the main shoulder season. They are good spenders. This is something on which we will have to work hard.

I will highlight one of my great bugbears, although I know it is not particularly relevant to what we are talking about. Anyway, it relates to the overpricing of hotel accommodation in our capital city. This is becoming a crisis. Any time a big rock star comes or a big event is scheduled - Rod Stewart is coming next weekend - people find that they have to stay in hotels in Portlaoise and Wicklow. They cannot get accommodation in the city. We are lucky to have Airbnb to take up the slack. We also have to be aware that capital investment in tourism is slipping. We are down 17% on the grants for Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland since 2012.

I will make a final comment on the Asian market. I imagine the Minister of State and those in his Department are well aware that this is a major growth area and presents a great opportunity for us. We are going to have to study this market. The head of the restaurant association said lately that we know more about the 6.5 million cows in Ireland than we do about the 6.5 million tourists who come here. That is pretty true. As far as the Asian market is concerned, there is great potential.Tourists from Asia stay for longer periods, spend more and travel more. We welcome that and will have to work on it.

I have referred to skills shortages in a number of debates here before. We have a difficulty training chefs especially. I will ask the Minister of State another time to take a serious look at how we will train our chefs and kitchen staff generally and how we will reinvigorate CERT and many other such ideas. However, today is the day to give the Minister of State the freedom to draw down more money if it is needed, and I am happy to support that.