Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, wish to acknowledge the contribution made by Senator Jimmy Harte in his short period in this House. He is a man of great conviction and, as one of our colleagues mentioned yesterday, he is fearless individual who has suffered greatly. His family also suffered greatly and his house was attacked during the Troubles, but it not deter him. I wish him continued good health and success in his retirement.

The CSO figures that were published at the weekend confirm strong growth in revenue from overseas visitors for the first six months of 2015. Spending in Ireland by overseas visitors for the first half of 2015 rose by 16.2% compared with the same period last year. The figures also show that the number of holidaymakers increased by more than 20% and that spending by these visitors was up 34.5% for January to June when compared with the figures for January to June 2014. That is good news for tourism.

The loss of the Web Summit is to be regretted. During last year's event, there was a phenomenal increase in hotel prices in Dublin of the order of 500% to 600%. People who stay in these hotels regularly throughout the year are now unable to do so. That may have been one of the reasons why the event has been moved. This is a regrettable development and I hope that Dublin will play host to an alternative convention.