Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Warfield will be allowed to speak on a whim all day after those remarks on Strokestown House. I also wish to welcome the Minister of State. I do not propose to rehash all the arguments which have been well made by others. I am very persuaded by the argument that we should maintain attractiveness to the UK market. Our UK tourists are a huge part of our tourism product, including returning emigrants and the descendants of the Irish emigrants of generations past. We in County Cavan have been working very hard to develop our tourism product in recent years. We have had a lot of success. A lot of potential has not yet been realised, particularly in fishing and other areas. UK tourists are a very major part of the tourism market in my area. They are very good spenders and regular visitors. We should seize the opportunity to attract them. I find that argument very persuasive and I commend it to the Minister of State for serious consideration. We should aim to keep English tourists coming and attract them in greater numbers.