Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the North-South areas of co-operation being advanced in the area of tourism; if he will report on decisions made with his ministerial counterpart from the Northern Assembly on 5 October; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33418/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Tourism was identified in the Good Friday Agreement as one of the key areas for North/South cooperation, and consequently it is one of the sectors on which the North/South Ministerial Council meets in Sectoral format. The Council meets in this format in order to make decisions on common policies and approaches in the area of tourism. It also takes decisions on policies and actions to be implemented by Tourism Ireland Limited in its role to promote the island of Ireland overseas as a tourist destination. Amongst the likely discussion items at the next North/South Ministerial Council meeting in Tourism Sectoral format are a review of this year's visitor numbers to the island of Ireland, Tourism Ireland's Business Plan for 2012 and major tourism opportunities North and South in 2012 and 2013.

There is also ongoing cooperation between the tourism agencies and Government departments north and south in a number of other areas including the selection of suitable tourism projects to benefit from Peace/Interreg funds and in work to harmonise and share tourism statistics north and south. I had an informal meeting with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment for Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster MLA when she visited Dublin on the 5th October for the launch of Northern Ireland 2012. We discussed a range of tourism issues including the planned events in 2012 to mark the Titanic Anniversary and "The Gathering" event in 2013.