Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to maximise the tourist dividend form the [i]Titanic[/i] anniversary in 2012; the budget available to promote the anniversary; the scope for co-operation with his counterpart in Northern Ireland and with the stakeholders, including Cobh and Belfast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1536/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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This year's centenary of the Titanic sailing - while commemorating a tragic event -also presents significant opportunities for Irish tourism. Tourism Ireland commenced its Titanic promotion activities in 2010 which included the setting up of a dedicated website and the bringing of overseas journalists to Cobh to highlight the links to the Titanic. While the allocation of resources to particular activities is a matter for the tourism agencies themselves, I understand that Failte Ireland will be providing funding for events in Cobh in April and that the two tourism agencies plan to bring further international media to selected Cobh Titanic 100 events.

In terms of cooperation with Northern Ireland, as the Deputy will be aware, tourism was specifically 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, to make decisions on common policies and approaches in the area of tourism. The next meeting in Tourism Sectoral format is scheduled for the 25th January at which I will meet the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland, Ms Arlene Foster MLA. Among the items to be discussed at this meeting will be major tourism initiatives this year including the centenary of the Titanic sailing.