Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept the premise that led the Deputy to the conclusion that the air travel tax led to the decline in Irish visitor numbers. I do not accept it because it is not in accordance with the international data. What is happening in Ireland is happening in every other country. There is a decline in passenger numbers but it is not caused by the air travel tax. Many other countries have such taxes and there is no correlation between the presence of an air travel tax and the number of passengers in a given country.

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