Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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849. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of funding that would be saved if Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland were amalgamated. [29954/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Tourism Ireland was established  following the Good Friday Agreement and is accountable to the North South Ministerial Council with funding provided by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and my own Department.  Its primary remit is to promote the island of Ireland as a tourist destination overseas and it works closely with Fáilte Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), and the tourism industry in delivering its remit. By adding marketing investment from the two jurisdictions, Tourism Ireland gains greater purchasing power and voice in overseas markets.

Fáilte Ireland was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003, following the amalgamation of Bord Fáilte Éireann and CERT.  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. The amalgamation of Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland would require substantive changes to the statutory and North/South frameworks underpinning the two agencies, which could only progress within a wider political and institutional framework. It is therefore not possible to provide an estimate but I do not anticipate that it would yield substantial savings.