Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope I am not in any way stealing the Leas-Chathaoirleach's thunder in welcoming some interesting developments on the tourism front in County Kerry, including the Leas-Chathaoirleach's home town of Killarney. I welcome the establishment of a new international college for hotel management being established as part of a public private partnership between the Gleneagle Group and Tralee Institute of Technology. Young students will come to Ireland to be taught hospitality skills and I understand the college had adopted the Swiss model and will be the first school of its type in Ireland. This development is very much in line with the specifications of the action plan for jobs and the Leas-Chathaoirleach will join me in welcoming it.

I also welcome the announcement by Ryanair that, as of this autumn, its schedule will include twice weekly flights from Kerry to Berlin. This is a welcome development in a county which is highly dependent on tourism for income.

I will conclude with an interesting little statistic. Under a by-law introduced by Killarney Town Council, as it was known then, the number of jarvey licences in the town is limited. When a jarvey licence became vacant recently, there were no fewer than 66 applicants for the licence. I understand the successful applicant will be drawn by lot by the mayor of County Kerry. This is a litmus test and, as with the Dow Jones Index, I will keep an eye on applications for jarvey licences.