Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Fáilte Ireland was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003. The Agency, under the Act, is a non-commercial State body responsible for encouraging, promoting and supporting tourism development as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy. 

The functions of the Authority are set out in Section 8 of the Act. It sets out that the role of Fáilte Ireland is to encourage, promote and support the development of tourist traffic within and to the State and the development and marketing of tourist facilities and services in the State.  Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have played a key role in developing the tourism sector to be one of the leading indigenous sectors in the country and in the continuous growth of tourism prior to COVID-19.

Tourism was one of the most directly affected sectors in this current crisis. Fáilte Ireland provided vital assistance in sustaining tourism business during lockdown, supported enterprises during reopening and will be crucial in assisting the tourism sector survive and thrive into the future. Tourism helps sustain infrastructure and businesses that are vital to the local economy and local communities.  It is closely related to the wider hospitality sector, the bulk of which serves the non-tourist local resident market.

My Department and Fáilte Ireland has engaged with the wider hospitality sector and Government Departments on issues of mutual concern.  The Hospitality and Tourism Forum, was established by An Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and I, to provide a platform for structured engagement between the Hospitality and Tourism sectors, the tourism agencies and relevant Government Departments. 

The Forum enables The Tánaiste and I,  to engage with a wide spectrum of industry stakeholders in order to assess the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to help improve understanding and responses to the crisis and to discuss ideas for recovery measures, thus assisting the Government in formulating its on-going response to the crisis.

Fáilte Ireland also currently chairs the Tourism & Hospitality Careers Oversight Group which is a collaborative approach by  stakeholders, including Industry Bodies, Education Providers, Government Departments and State Agencies to addressing skills shortages in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector.

Tourism has proven itself resilient before and I am confident that, with the support of Government, it will recover from this crisis and thrive again.  Accordingly, while I am always open to review and improve existing structures, I have no plans at present to realign Fáilte Ireland.