Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position regarding Dublin Tourism; and if he will take steps to ensure its continuation as it is presently structured. [11613/05]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Fáilte Ireland proposes to dismantle Dublin Tourism following a consultants report undertaken by PWC; if the promotion of tourism for the regions can best be done in a centralised manner; his views on whether the Dublin region requires separate tourism promotion unit; the steps he proposes to take to enable Dublin Tourism to continue in its present form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11643/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 95 together.

There has been a major reform of Irish tourism structures in recent years with the setting up of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Reform of the function, role and operational structure of regional tourism is the third and final leg of that reform process.

As the Deputies are aware, I have no direct responsibility in relation to the most appropriate regional structures for the discharge of Fáilte Ireland's functions and the relationships and arrangements that should apply at regional level. This is effectively a day to day matter for Fáilte Ireland itself.

I am in a position to inform the House however that, in line with the tourism action plan set out in the report of the tourism policy review group, Fáilte Ireland has been deliberating on this issue. Last year, it commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers, PWC, to conduct a major consultancy study of regional tourism structures as the authority seeks to determine how best to carry out its new development mandate countrywide.

I received a letter yesterday from the chairman of Fáilte Ireland enclosing a copy of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers consultancy report and indicating that the authority endorsed the recommendations in the report at its meeting on Thursday, 7 April. I have also been advised that as far as the Dublin region is concerned, the authority has decided that there will be a further short engagement with the relevant parties in order to satisfy the Dublin region that the mechanisms of consultation are complete. This process will be facilitated by a small independent group chaired by Mr. John Travers.

It has been evident for some time that Irish tourism faces a number of challenges to secure and sustain its past success. I outlined to the House recently the steps being taken to achieve as wide as possible a distribution of visitor numbers across the different regions with an associated spread of tourism revenue and of my concern, at a time of overall national tourism growth, that the issue of regional spread should be proactively and energetically addressed.

I have been informed by Fáilte Ireland that the PWC report highlights the need for a much wider brief for regional tourism, playing a strategic rather than administrative role and inputting into national policy. It recommends a greatly increased emphasis on targeted marketing, product development and enterprise support. It suggests establishing an integrated linkage between regional tourism strategy and national policy and exploiting synergies to leverage increased resources.

I will, over the coming weeks, consider fully the policy implications of the authority's recommendations on foot of the report, the outcome of the further consultation process in relation to the concerns expressed about the future role of Dublin Tourism and the views of the industry. Basically, I want to ensure that we have the most efficient and effective regional structures to service the needs of the visitor and the needs of the industry. At present, we have somewhat fragmented structures to do that and it is not always clear that they represent the most effective use of energy and resources.