Q63 Mr. Dave Anderson: Can I just say you might not be from Northern Ireland but you are becoming as good as the people of Northern Ireland, with a wonderful turn of phrase "the crowded landscape". One thing that has hit me ever since I got involved with this is the amount of people with their finger in the pie in the whole tourism bureaucracy in Northern Ireland. Is the reality that people get in the way? There seem to be more people in the bureaucracy than there are in the actual delivery.

Mr Wisdom: Perhaps if I can give a couple of quotes from Northern Ireland employers this would paint a picture of what employers are saying to us through our research. This is from a hotel employer in Northern Ireland: "Funded provision is like a jumble sale. You have to dig and dig and dig to find what you want and then you are passed from pillar from post to get it." This is from another hotel employer: "There are so many organisations involved, it is almost impossible to find out what is going on." From a restaurant employer: "There is an awful lot out there and people are not aware it is there." I think those three quotes probably sum up what our research is saying that employers are finding difficulty out there.

Chairman: And you are going to put it right!

Mr. Dave Anderson: It is up to the agency to put it right probably.

Mr Murphy: Glancing at your website before coming into this meeting ---

Chairman: That is very impressive!

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Q163 Mr. Dave Anderson: I want to pick up on the point that Ulster is always on about, and that is that surely one of the key things of your whole product is the people.

Professor Boyd: Yes.

Q164 Mr. Dave Anderson: And one of the biggest things we learn is that more and more the people at the sharp end of delivery are not Northern Irish people, it is people coming in from Europe - and I understand all the issues with that. Surely there has got to be some work done to make the job much more attractive to people, the indigenous people, because they are the key to people coming. Whenever I think about different views, the one thing everybody does agree about is that the Northern Irish people have a massive warm welcome for everybody.

Professor Boyd: Yes.

Q165 Mr. Dave Anderson: We are losing that at the sharp end.

Professor Boyd: It is a difficult pill to swallow and that is that the industry is not seen as an attractive employer, and it takes time to turn that around. When they see lots of visitors coming, when they see that tourism is a major employer in terms of GDP to the Province, then the level of wages will rise and then the perception of working in the industry will rise. But you will not do that overnight and you must remember that Northern Ireland is starting from a lower base than its neighbours, particularly the Republic of Ireland and the UK.

This is an uncorrected transcript of evidence taken in public and reported to the House. The transcript has been placed on the internet on the authority of the Committee. Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct the record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings.

Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT