Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The more information we have the better. It would help all of us at Government and tourism organisational levels in planning. My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, has a keen interest in this area. As Deputy Gogarty said, the agencies under his Ministry are doing much work.

I understand that in other countries, departments and ministries work with hotels, for example, and much information is provided at that level. There are many other ways to compile information and we should examine every avenue. To be fair to the CSO, it has made significant recent advances. I have met the agency's personnel a number of times to discuss the type of work it does. We should encourage it to continue getting more detailed information.

There is co-operation with the Northern Ireland institutions and organisations and information compiled at Belfast Airport and Northern ports would be shared with us. Returning to Deputy Ó Caoláin's point, much more work could be done in this area. I thank the Deputies for their comments, which will be noted by the CSO, a point I always make. It listens to what Deputies say and will follow up on the matters.

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