Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has outlined some of the schemes in operation. For the Olympic Games in London last year the visa waiver programme was in place but that was possibly a disappointment because there did not seem to a huge take-up of it. The Minister mentioned the Irish short stay visa waiver programme and there is also the start-up entrepreneur programme. I want to ascertain if there has been any positive impact. Has the Department carried out any assessment of the economic benefits accruing to the State? Can the Minister give us an indication of the numbers? Can he envisage if the countries covered can be extended?

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