Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that there was an increase of over 4% in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in the first four months of the year compared with the same period in 2006. While it will be challenging to maintain the record-breaking performance of 2006, these latest CSO figures confirm that Ireland's tourism sector continues to perform at a very impressive level.

Mainland Europe continues to be our strongest performing market with an increase of almost 25% in visitor numbers during the four month period up to the end of April compared with the corresponding period in 2006. The North American market has also shown a good performance for the beginning of the year with an increase of 3.4%, while other long-haul markets are up by almost 12%. The figures for North America are particularly encouraging when viewed in the context of the relative strength of the euro against the dollar.

The number of visitors from Britain for the first four months is down by over 5% compared with the same period in 2006. This is disappointing but is consistent with a general trend of reduced numbers of outward travellers from Great Britain to European destinations in the early part of this year. It is believed that interest rate increases and other factors may be impacting on consumer discretionary spending power. The numbers coming to Ireland from Britain for holiday purposes were up by over 6% for the first quarter of the year.

Tourism Ireland is undertaking its biggest ever marketing campaign in Britain this year. This includes spending €6 million to highlight regional attractions. This campaign, which commenced in April, will run through July and I am confident that the months ahead will show the benefits for this most important market. Additional marketing activity is also planned for the autumn, with a particular focus on the short breaks programme.

Considering that 2006 broke all records in terms of overseas visitor numbers and associated revenue, we have set a challenging target of a further 5% growth in visitor numbers and 7.3% in associated revenue for 2007. I am confident that the record levels of Exchequer investment for tourism services this year, €159 million, will enable both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland to implement a comprehensive set of programmes to help ensure that these targets are met. In particular, the marketing fund of €45 million, an increase of 12.5% on last year's provision, has allowed both agencies to step up their marketing activities significantly.

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