Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his attention has been drawn to recent figures from the Tourist Victim Support Service showing a significant continuing level of crime against tourists; his views on whether attacks or other crime directed at tourists may damage the tourism industry here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15012/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that, as reported recently at the launch of its 2004 annual report, the Tourist Victim Support Service dealt with a total of 353 cases of crimes against tourists last year. This represented a decrease of 1% on the 357 cases reported for the previous year. I understand that the majority of the cases, 190, were in relation to larceny but, regretfully, 36 cases involved violence.

I deplore all crime against tourists, particularly as they are a vulnerable group away from their home country and without a network of family and friends to support them. For this reason, I applaud the work of the Tourist Victim Support Service and I am encouraged by the support and close co-operation that the service continues to receive from the Garda Síochána.

I would like to acknowledge also the role the service plays in terms of providing top quality safety information guides for tourists. I wish the service every success and I would urge the tourism sector, and wider commercial interests that benefit from tourism, to fully support the service in its very important work both with tourists in crisis and in safety awareness.

While any level of crime is unacceptable, it is important to have a sense of perspective. In a recent survey on personal safety in capital cities worldwide, Dublin, ranked 27th, was found to be one of the safest capital cities in the world.