Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the number of visitors to Ireland for the first two months of 2005; the way in which this compares with the same period in 2003 and 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9172/05]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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We are back to tourism. I could easily refer this question to my good colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Kitt may carry on. He is doing well.

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The CSO introduced a new monthly release on overseas travel in January 2004. This release gives summary monthly figures in addition to the CSO's more detailed quarterly figures on tourism. The monthly release shows the total number of overseas trips into and out of the Republic of Ireland classified by area of residence.

The latest figures available are for December 2004. They show that there were slightly more than 436,000 overseas trips to Ireland in that month, an increase of 8.9% on the number in December 2003. In 2004 there were almost 6.6 million overseas trips to Ireland, an increase of 3.2% on 2003. It is expected that the January 2005 release will be published before the end of April.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Regarding the figures for December 2004, are there comparable figures for 2003? Although estimating procedures have changed, are there figures available for US visitors, English visitors and visitors from the rest of Europe? Regarding destinations in Ireland, are there figures for visitors travelling to Dublin or the provinces, for example?

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Before coming in here I got figures on the number of trips to Ireland. These are the December 2004 CSO figures on overseas travel. There were 436,200 overseas trips to Ireland in December 2004, an increase of 8.9% on the 400,400 in the same month of 2003. I already gave the Deputy the figure of 6.6 million for 2004.

The figures for visitors from Great Britain may be of interest to the Deputy as we have often talked about the figures for those coming here from the United Kingdom. The number of trips to Ireland in December 2004 by residents of Great Britain increased by 2.4% compared with the same month in 2003. In 2004 the number is down 1% on 2003. That is a one-month figure and hopefully is a good sign of what is to come.

In December 2004, trips to Ireland by residents of other European countries increased by 27.8% to 100,600 on the corresponding December 2003 figure of 78,700. Trips to Ireland by residents of North America in December 2004 increased by 15.7% when compared with December 2003. In 2004, the number was up 8% on 2003. There were 22,400 trips to Ireland by residents of other areas in December 2004, an increase of 600 on the same month in 2003.

The Deputy did not ask me about the trips made by Irish residents, but I will give him the figures. Irish residents made 348,200 trips in December 2004, an increase of 8% on the figure of 322,500 in December 2003. That is the most up-to-date information we have. We will get more information on the following months for the Deputy.