George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I mentioned in my opening remarks that I wondered if the geopolitical area was the reason for the difficulties we were seeing with foreign visitors coming to Ireland. With President Trump and President Putin's antics, the war in Ukraine and other disturbances and wars and atrocities around the world, is that playing a role in the American market particularly? I was in Savannah a few weeks ago and the level of interest in Ireland, albeit over the St. Patrick's Day weekend, was immense. Savannah has a population of approximately 150,000 people and three quarters of a million people attended the parade, such was the level of interest. When we talk about roots and things like that, we should be looking to identify areas in the United States to which we can have direct flights to enhance the possibility of visitors from those areas returning to Ireland.

I appreciate the Minister of State saying that it only covers January and February, but I sincerely hope it is not a trend, because if it is, we are in some difficulty. I welcome the meetings between the various agencies, and this should be an ongoing event to ensure we have our finger on the pulse. The distraction of what is going on in the world with the tariffs and so on coming down the tracks may have distracted us and we may have taken our eye off the ball, given these figures.

I extend an invitation to everybody to Wexford. It is a wonderful county with wonderful beaches and heritage, particularly this year when we again host Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. I know the Minister of State has a social event coming up in the next couple of weeks and maybe she would see Wexford as a destination for that. I thank her for her response, and I look forward to the improving statistics.

See this speech in context