Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to establish, through Fáilte Ireland, an innovation fund to promote and support the development of tourism products that are new to the market here and to promote best practice, particularly in terms of environmental sustainability and accessibility for tourists with disabilities. [18086/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed that Fáilte Ireland have launched an innovation fund which offers assistance towards the production of feasibility studies for innovative tourism products. Details of the scheme can be found on the Fáilte Ireland website www.failteireland.ie. This fund complements a range of other product development schemes which have been launched over the past year to support tourism infrastructure, attractions and activity projects, with an emphasis on innovation and environmental sustainability.

Fáilte Ireland also have brought tourism suppliers together on a pilot basis in the Southeast region to innovate "Family Fun" products, and will be rolling out further initiatives elsewhere nationally for product offerings based on Adventure and Celtic Culture.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to develop a rolling programme of national culture, musical and literary festivals to enhance the tourism product here, in particular through the establishment of a new fund of €28 million for the creation of a small number of major annual events over the period to 2013. [18087/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Fáilte Ireland is committed to continued support for a number of key festivals in 2008 and following years under the Festivals and Cultural Events Initiative, the primary aim of which is to encourage the spatial spread of visitors throughout the country by strategically investing in attractive and sustainable festivals and cultural events that enhance the local tourism product and in turn expand regional tourism. The Initiative operates by supporting existing and new festivals and cultural events throughout the regions which can best assist in achieving Fáilte Ireland's objective of providing new and enhanced attractions for visitors both from overseas and from within Ireland.

Under the Festivals & Events programme, Fáilte Ireland has introduced a tiered investment model that enables it to offer multi-annual funding to key festivals across many regions of the country. After the acclaimed success of the re-Joyce and Beckett Festivals, in 2007 the Department supported the 50th anniversary of the Dublin Theatre Festival. This year it is supporting the centenary of the Hugh Lane Gallery, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Gate Theatre, the quadcentenary of the Flight of the Earls, and the Bicentenary of Thomas Moores' Melodies.

In light of their value to cultural tourism I propose to continue funding appropriate and commemorative cultural initiatives in the future. For instance, the Department is currently providing seed funding for a major visual arts festival in Dublin in 2010 under the broad aegis of IMMA.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to undertake a strategic review of new and developing markets to identify the investment and actions needed to realise their potential. [18088/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Tourism Ireland, the North South body with responsibility for the overseas marketing of the island of Ireland as a holiday destination, completed and published its review of New and Developing Markets in December last year. The Review includes a range of measures and initiatives to grow tourism business from these markets and confirms that visitors from the Asia-Pacific region will be increasingly important for Irish tourism. The Review sets out ambitious targets for both visitor numbers and revenue earnings over the period to 2013.

Work on the implementation of the measures proposed in the Review is progressing. In this regard, I am scheduled to meet the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland, Nigel Dodds MP at a North South Ministerial Council meeting in Tourism Sectoral format at the end of this month in which progress on the Tourism Ireland Business Plan for 2008 will be discussed.