Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 26: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if she plans to review the semi-State bodies operating under her aegis in the area of tourism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27241/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The remit of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport in relation to tourism is to support the growth of a competitive and sustainable tourism industry, enhancing its contribution to national economic and social goals, through the development, implementation and influencing of a range of policy actions and programmes by the Department, its Agencies and other Government Departments, in consultation with industry partners.

There has been a major reform of Irish tourism structures in the last decade with the setting up of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland as well as reform of the function, role and operational aspects of regional structures. Fáilte Ireland was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003, following the amalgamation of Bord Fáilte Éireann and CERT, to encourage, promote and support tourism. Its primary functions are the development of quality tourism product, domestic tourism marketing, tourism standards, enterprise support, capability building and human resource development for the tourism industry. Fáilte Ireland makes a vital contribution to the tourism industry in Ireland in delivering on its various functions. Substantial new tourism product has been rolled out, the grading and classification systems for all categories of accommodation, including hotels, has been updated, domestic tourism has increased and many trainees have been skilled to a high standard to enable them to deliver a quality customer service to holidaymakers in Ireland.

As part of the Good Friday Agreement, tourism was designated an area for cooperation under the North-South Ministerial Council. In December 1998, the parties to the Agreement decided that a publicly owned limited company would be established by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the then Bord Fáilte Éireann to carry out functions related to the promotion of tourism to the island of Ireland. The company, Tourism Ireland Limited, was formally incorporated on 11 December 2000. Tourism Ireland is accountable to the North South Ministerial Council with funding for its operations being provided by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport in the South. The primary remit of the company is to promote the island of Ireland as a tourist destination in overseas markets.

Tourism Ireland is generally regarded as being highly effective, by its international peers as well as the tourism industry on the island. The company works closely with Fáilte Ireland, NITB, and the tourism industry in delivering its remit. In summary, Tourism Ireland's role is to maximise the number of visitors coming to the island of Ireland from overseas while Fáilte Ireland's role is to market both domestically and in Northern Ireland and to ensure that the tourism experience in the South is to the highest possible standard. I am satisfied that both organisations have key complementary roles to play in sustaining the valuable contribution of tourism to Ireland's economy.

Turning to the regional level, five Regional Tourism Authorities passed resolutions during the summer of 2006 to dissolve. The staff, property and responsibilities of these authorities were subsumed into Fáilte Ireland with new Regional Tourism Development Boards being established in each area. In the case of Dublin, an autonomous body - Dublin Tourism - remains in place. This is in recognition of Dublin's position as a capital city competing with other European cities for city break visitors. Within the context of the wider changes at regional level, the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Dublin Tourism were substantially altered to address corporate governance issues, to clarify its future role and its relationships with Fáilte Ireland and it is now a subsidiary of Fáilte Ireland.

Shannon Development is the Regional Tourism Authority for the Shannon Region which includes Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary and South Offaly. However, the Region, as is the case with other regions, has a Regional Tourism Development Board. This Board works closely with the executive of Shannon Development and the main Board of Shannon Development on tourism matters. The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport provides funding to Shannon Development to fund promotional and tourism related activities throughout the Shannon Region, although the bulk of its funding is provided through its own resources income.

I would also draw the Deputy's attention to the report of the Tourism Renewal Group which was published last October. In his foreword to the report the chairman of the group noted that, in the course of a very wide ranging consultation across the sector, general satisfaction at the performance and delivery of the primary State sector tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, was a consistent theme. I am satisfied that the institutional framework – while appearing complex - for delivering services to the tourism industry has served us well to date. At the same time, it is important that the strategic framework for tourism development is flexible enough to respond to the changing economic environment and in this regard the tourism framework is the subject of regular review to ensure it is fit for purpose.