Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the steps he will take to attract national Olympic teams from various countries to use Ireland as a springboard and preparation centre in advance of the London Olympics. [6209/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport the steps he will take to ensure that Ireland capitalises on the London Olympics in terms of attracting tourists to visit here. [6205/11]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 16 together.

A high-level coordinating group, chaired by my Department, is identifying opportunities that may arise across the sports, tourism and cultural sectors, from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The group comprises representatives from Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the Arts Council, Culture Ireland, the Irish Sports Council, the Olympic Council of Ireland, the Paralympic Council of Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

One of the issues that the London 2012 coordinating group is looking at is Ireland's potential to attract international teams and athletes for training camps in the lead up to London 2012. The American Olympic Synchronized Swimming Squad has chosen the National Aquatic Centre as its pre-Olympic Training Base. The Great Britain Paralympic Swimming Squad has also signed up for a week's training at the Centre in November 2011. The Department and various sports facilities are working on attracting other teams to train here.

The Tourism Agencies are also working hard to maximise the potential benefits to Irish tourism of having the Olympics in London. For example they are targeting tourists from London who may wish to get away from the city during the games. They are also working with UK inbound tour operators to divert people to Ireland who cannot be accommodated in London during the games given the reduced accommodation and carrier capacity that will be available there. The high-level coordinating group will continue to meet on an ongoing basis to maximise opportunities and obviously this will influence the benefits to Ireland.