Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Before coming in here I got figures on the number of trips to Ireland. These are the December 2004 CSO figures on overseas travel. There were 436,200 overseas trips to Ireland in December 2004, an increase of 8.9% on the 400,400 in the same month of 2003. I already gave the Deputy the figure of 6.6 million for 2004.

The figures for visitors from Great Britain may be of interest to the Deputy as we have often talked about the figures for those coming here from the United Kingdom. The number of trips to Ireland in December 2004 by residents of Great Britain increased by 2.4% compared with the same month in 2003. In 2004 the number is down 1% on 2003. That is a one-month figure and hopefully is a good sign of what is to come.

In December 2004, trips to Ireland by residents of other European countries increased by 27.8% to 100,600 on the corresponding December 2003 figure of 78,700. Trips to Ireland by residents of North America in December 2004 increased by 15.7% when compared with December 2003. In 2004, the number was up 8% on 2003. There were 22,400 trips to Ireland by residents of other areas in December 2004, an increase of 600 on the same month in 2003.

The Deputy did not ask me about the trips made by Irish residents, but I will give him the figures. Irish residents made 348,200 trips in December 2004, an increase of 8% on the figure of 322,500 in December 2003. That is the most up-to-date information we have. We will get more information on the following months for the Deputy.

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