Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to discuss tourism. There is no doubt that tourism in Ireland is on the decline. We all know that. To prove to myself that it was not just in my mind, I compared a similar period and category. I researched the number of foreign visitors who completed a trip to Ireland in December 2023 and December 2024. Unfortunately, there was a 12.2% decrease in the number of people who visited us and, more worryingly, there was a 20.4% decrease in spending. There is something radically wrong. I am biased in saying this but I come from probably the most scenic place in Ireland. We are very dependent on tourism. I call on the Minister for tourism to come before us and lay out his plans to try and get tourism back up and running in Ireland. We have a beautiful country with an awful lot to offer. It is a shame to see numbers decreasing like this.