Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tréaslaím leis an mhéid atá ráite ag cuid mhaith de na cainteoirí a labhair romham. Is féidir linn bheith iontach dearfach faoin ábhar seo.

The Minister of State is most welcome to the Seanad and I welcome the opportunity to engage with him on tourism. I will begin by focusing on the important and valuable work done by Tourism Ireland to promote the country overseas. Tourism Ireland has the great benefit of being able to promote Ireland as a single entity. It is able to promote the diversity of all of the great assets which have been mentioned, including the Giants Causeway, the Game of Thrones Trail, Titanic Belfast and the Peace Bridge in Ebrington Square in Derry. For me, tourism is a glaringly obvious example of where Ireland works best when it works together. I take the opportunity to commend the chief executive of Tourism Ireland, Mr. Niall Gibbons, and his staff both here and all around the world who do a fantastic job in drawing tourists and visitors not just to the well known iconic attractions but also some of the smaller and, I dare say, more authentic experiences across the island. I wish to get a plug in for the community arts festival which is taking place in west Belfast, Féile an Phobail. The programme was launched last week by the Taoiseach in St. Mary's University College on the Falls Road. I commend the festival to the Minister of State. I have a copy of the clár in my office and will make sure to leave it in the Minister of State's pigeonhole in order that he can read it. I am sure I am not speaking out of turn when, on behalf of the organisers and management of Féile an Phobail, I extend a very warm invitation to him to come to the festival to see what is on offer.

I wish to hone in on an issue that cuts across briefs within the Minister of State's Department. We recently saw the launch of joint plans to promote connectivity and positive working between Translink and Iarnród Éireann. Plans were outlined for the much talked about high speed rail service connecting Belfast and Dublin, an hourly service which would reduce travel time to about 1.5 hours. Has the Minister of State had any engagement with either of the organisations on the tourism benefits? I understand the benefits will be much broader, but tourism will be a central plank of the benefits which will flow from the project. If the Minister of State has not done so, he might consider having a conversation with the two organisations, particularly given the impending threat posed by Brexit. We need to put infrastructure in place and improve the infrastructure which has served us reasonably well up to this point.

Given all of the statistics outlined by the Minister of State, we should punch well above our weight. We need to meet demand by having a world-class professional service which is what people expect when they visit Ireland. I am keen to hear the views of the Minister of State in that regard. On behalf of the Government, the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade declared publicly his support for the project. I would like to hear that there has been some movement in that regard.

I appreciate that we are here somewhat later than normal on a Tuesday, but behind all of the fantastic and proud statistics we are able to recite about the benefits of tourism to the economy and broader society, there are people working in the hospitality sector and elsewhere in the State who find their employment to be very precarious, unstable and low paid. That is why it is important that we continue to lend our support to Senator Paul Gavan's Bill which seeks to make it illegal for employers to take tips from persons working in the hospitality sector.

As a member of the board of Visit Belfast and during my time as Lord Mayor of Belfast, I placed major emphasis on tourism within the city. The Minister of State is absolutely correct. We do not need National Geographicor anyone else to tell us that our best tourism asset is the people. If we are going to continue to provide a first-class service and utilise the people as the wonderful tourism asset that they are, we also need to care for and look after them when working in the sector and ensure it is a viable and sustainable career such that they will have a good decent living wage and that there will be an opportunity, as Senator Grace O'Sullivan said, to bring young people into the industry. I do not say this to be combative or confrontational. While it is easy for us to hone in on the many positives, there can be a darker edge to the industry which many workers experience. I encourage people never to lose sight of that fact.