Ireland may lose its fine reputation for friendly customer care if the domestic tourism industry relies too heavily on foreign labour, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation has warned.
Dr McDaid told the inaugural meeting of the council of CERT, the State tourism training agency: "Visitors to Ireland enjoy interaction with Irish people and this friendly `Irish Customer Care' is in danger of being lost if this trend [of sourcing labour abroad] continues".
He said he was "well aware that skill deficiencies and staff shortages are one of the main problems facing the industry", but added "we could have no objection" to the "increasing number of foreigners" working in Irish tourism because the EU allowed free movement of labour.
The Minister said he recognised the value of international experience for Irish and overseas workers and that "the process works both ways".
"However, I wonder, with so much spent on training Irish people, is there a real need to resort to sourcing people abroad?" Dr McDaid promised that a sub-group on the "Image of Tourism as an Employer" would report to the Tourism Council next month on issues including foreign workers.
He said pay and working conditions would have to be tailored so that working in the tourism sector would be regarded by young people as "a profession rather than a stop-gap job".
By the time the current five-year Tourism Operational Programme concluded in 1999, £75 million will have been invested in training by CERT. This sum was "a major financial commitment on the part of the EU and the Government", the Minister said, adding that the tourism industry "must play its role . . . in developing a training culture".
