Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the figures on tourism and travel published last week by the CSO which show that spending in the first quarter of 2015 by overseas visitors rose by 10.5% in comparison with the same period last year. The data also show that the number of trips to Ireland by holidaymakers rose by 13.3%, while spending by holidaymakers was up by 12.9% in quarter one when compared to the same period in 2014. The figures show the significant contribution that tourism and visitors to the country are making to the economic recovery.

The revenue associated with visitors from Great Britain grew by 5.8%, and from North America by 16.8%. If one walks around the streets of Dublin, the number of American visitors in the capital city is obvious, and that is very much to be welcomed. I ask for a debate with the Minister, Deputy Donohue, on the progress we are making in the area of tourism to ensure that we keep our eye on the ball and that all stakeholders and players in this business are doing everything possible to maximise the benefits from tourism for hotels, guest houses and restaurants and that we are not doing anything that will damage the sector and enterprise in the future.

I also ask for a debate on how we can ensure that the benefits that are obvious in Dublin city, Killarney, Galway city and Connemara spread out into the more peripheral regions of the country. We need a debate on how we might make these places more attractive by possibly looking at transport subsidies to bring the visitors to the less-travelled parts of the country. I refer to places such as east Galway that has much to offer. We are not getting the same benefit and Fáilte Ireland needs to up its game to ensure that the benefits of the increased visitor numbers spread into the regions.