I commend the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and Mountaineering Ireland for arranging a fantastic walk in the Mountains of Mourne on Sunday. Many of our colleagues participated in the Oireachtas walk. Mountaineering Ireland, a very professional organisation, represents the North and the South of this island and it was good to see the fantastic work it was doing. Its members showed us how professional an organisation it was.

I was fortunate yesterday to have a chance to preview the Dublin tenement experience, which re-enacts the Dublin Lock-out of 1913.

It opens to the public this Thursday and it offers a powerful insight into what life was like during the Lock-out. The acting is fantastic. I encourage my colleagues to visit it in Henrietta Street. It is an innovative collaboration between Dublin City Council, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Heritage Trust and it will bring a significant benefit to the area. As we approach the centenary of the founding of the State, perhaps we should consider what other events and stories can be commemorated in this way.

I commend the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and our tourism authorities on The Gathering and the other strategies they have adopted on tourism. Figures for the period from March to May show an increase of 3.2% in tourist visits, with particular rises in the number of tourists from China and India.

Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

I simply want to highlight the benefits of tourism and the fact that tourists are coming from emerging markets. When tourists do not revisit a country, price is a major reason. Word spreads when a country offers good value for money. The 9% VAT rate is critical in this regard. In advance of the budget we should drive home to the Minister for Finance that value for money is key to attracting tourists.