Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

There has not been a big fall off in domestic tourism. There has been a big fall off in the number of people flying domestically, which is a different thing. That is because people can drive on motorways to almost anywhere in Ireland in two hours. Why would someone get on a aeroplane when he or she can travel quicker and cheaper by car?

There has been some contact with the North. Tourism Ireland is an all-island body. My meeting with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster MLA will be taking place in the next couple of weeks, so we will certainly be discussing things then. This is a very big year for Northern Ireland, due to the Titanic celebrations and there will be some events in Cobh as well to match that. The Irish Open is also going North for the first time, which some people have mixed feelings about, but that does not signal much more co-operation between the North and South when it comes to tourism.

See this speech in context