Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Transport if, in view of the fact that the number of travel agents here has halved in the past two years, he will consider changing the bonding requirement to be catered for by a single common fund rather than requiring the over-expensive individual funding of all travel agents; and if his further attention has been drawn to the importance of travel agents in supporting inward tourism through the retention of air routes. [25713/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, in 2008 I requested the Commission for Aviation Regulation to undertake a review of travel trade licensing and bonding regulations. Among the recommendations arising from this review was that a collective bond scheme could be developed in concert with the insurance industry.

In November 2009, as part of the Review of the Consumer Aqcuis, the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) of the European Commission launched a review of the Package Travel Directive. Given this development, there would not appear to be any merit in undertaking fundamental reform of the bonding regime at this time without a clearer understanding of what the Commission is proposing in this area.