Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if Fáilte Ireland will open a call for applications under the platforms for growth or large grant scheme in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8407/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Fáilte Ireland helps to support tourism industry growth in Ireland through its ‘Tourism Development & Innovation’ Strategy for Investment 2016-2022 which underpins all of its investment in tourism capital projects, including all grant schemes and strategic partnerships. This funding supports tourism capital investment projects and initiatives by both the public and private sectors and supports Fáilte Ireland in its strategic aim to deliver genuinely innovative projects that transform visitor experiences for Ireland’s target markets, while supporting jobs in the industry and protecting our natural environment.

Fáilte Ireland’s capital investment programme, Platforms for Growth, ran from 2019 to 2022. The programme, unlike any other Fáilte Ireland project, explicitly targets ‘platforms’ or project types that have the greatest potential to grow tourism across Ireland.

The first Platform for Growth was launched in May 2019 and focused on developing immersive heritage and cultural attractions. Through this platform, Fáilte Ireland invested in heritage and cultural attractions of scale that motivate visitors to travel, either to and-or within Ireland.

The second Platform for Growth focuses on developing water sports activity facilities across the country. These facilities will provide a hub in each locality from which multiple water sport operators can base themselves. €19 million worth of investment is to be used to develop world-class facility centres at 20 locations across the country where water-based activities are a key visitor attraction.

In 2022, Fáilte Ireland launched a Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme as the third Platform for Growth. This is a small capital investment scheme, offering investment grants of up to 100% of eligible project costs to a maximum of €200,000 per project. The scheme aims to support the development of up to seven significant gala dinner venues of scale in the environs of Ireland’s premier business tourism hubs i.e. Dublin, Cork, Kerry, the Shannon Region and Galway. Targeting this gap in the Business Events segment will assist recovery and growth of revenue.

Currently, Fáilte Ireland has no plans to launch a new Platforms for Growth Scheme in 2023. However, Fáilte Ireland is developing a new investment plan which will be in line with the agency's Statement of Strategy and the forthcoming national Sustainable Tourism Policy, which is currently in development. Fáilte Ireland also provides further capital supports to tourism attractions and experiences in Ireland through other channels, including small grants schemes, strategic partnerships with other State bodies and some direct investments.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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80. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the provisions her Department is making to replace funding to the tourism sector, secured through the Immigrant Investor Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8532/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Immigrant Investor Programme was established over a decade ago and is under the remit of the Minister for Justice.

I understand that this programme was designed to encourage investors and business professionals from outside the European Economic Area to avail of opportunities for investing and locating their business interests in Ireland and to acquire a secure residency status in Ireland. I also understand that it is not possible to break down the investment figures showing how much went to the tourism sector specifically under the Scheme.

In terms of funding that I as Minister direct to the tourism sector, in Budget 2023 I secured €15 million in additional funding for overseas marketing of Ireland. As global competition heightens, sustaining extensive marketing campaigns will be vital to support the ongoing recovery effort, building on the initial inbound tourism demand seen in 2022.

The Budget also contains an additional €15 million for a range of industry initiatives including:

- A continuation of the investment in skills development and retention (€3 million)

- A €2 million increase in funding for domestic marketing

- I also secured additional funding €3 million to allow Fáilte Ireland to continue its work in the area of sustainability.

Tourism agencies are working hard to assist those in the tourism sector. Tourism Ireland will roll out an extensive and targeted programme of activity in 2023, with a total marketing budget of €78 million. A wide range of promotional activities will be undertaken as well as working with the tourism industry at home and the travel trade overseas to facilitate sales.

In addition, Fáilte Ireland announced its 2023 plans yesterday which include work in the area of recruitment and retention of staff and sustainability as they seek to support businesses, communities and regions. They will also undertake a range of measures to support the sector in 2023, including domestic marketing and transforming the digital capabilities of tourism businesses,

Other allocations in Budget 2023 included €36.5 million in capital funding for tourism product development for the continued delivery of enhanced visitor experiences in line with the objectives of the National Development Plan 2021-2030.

While the sector faces many challenges, I will continue to engage with the sector and with my Government colleagues to ensure that the industry is well positioned to maintain current levels of recovery and to grow sustainably in the coming years.