John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Regarding the open skies arrangement, it is anticipated by the chief executives of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, the officials in my Department and the Department of Transport and the Government in general that open skies will lead to a revolution in Irish tourism. The number of visitors from the United States of America will increase considerably in the coming years.

When we speak of open skies and the Shannon stopover, let it be remembered that there was quid pro quo, namely, our national airline could not fly from more than four gateway cities in the USA. It was restricted in terms of its growth and, therefore, the number of people it could bring here from the USA. That quid pro quo is gone, indicative of which is Aer Lingus's announcement on the night of the agreement being made that it will fly from three more gateway cities.

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