Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the recent figures from the Central Statistics Office showing a fall of almost 5,000 in the number of visitors from North America to Ireland for the first eight months of this year; the reasons for this shortfall and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34894/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that, for a variety of reasons, there was a slow start to the North American tourism market this year which has left overall numbers from January to August down less than 1% on last year. However, I am heartened by the fact that according to the latest CSO figures for August, visitor numbers from North America grew by 6.2% over the same month last year. This follows on from an 8.9% increase in July and a 7.2% increase in June over the same months in 2004. These strong summer season results bode well for the growth of the important US leisure market.

The latest market intelligence available to Tourism Ireland suggests that this trend has continued through the shoulder season and there are grounds for optimism that the year will end with a real increase in the number of US visitors. This would result in Ireland's performance being more or less on a par with our nearest competitors in Europe. Official figures from the US Department of Commerce show that travel by US citizens to Europe only grew by 2% in the first half of this year.

Air capacity is a key factor in developing the North American market. As was evident in 2004, the large numbers of Irish travelling to the US, particularly in the early part of the year, have restricted the availability of seats at competitive fares for US travellers wishing to visit Ireland. With the new services by American Airlines from Boston and Chicago and the new continental route to Belfast coming on stream in May last, we have seen a far greater take-up of seats by US visitors.

There are now four major American based carriers serving Ireland, Delta Air Lines, US Airways, Continental Airlines and American Airlines. There has never been a time when so many American carriers have served Ireland. In addition, the number of direct gateway cities has been gradually increasing. In this context, the recent announcement by my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, on changes to the US-Ireland air bilateral agreement, is extremely significant from a tourism perspective. As I mentioned in an earlier reply, the proposed new arrangements have major potential to open up a range of new air services between Ireland and the United States. According to some tourism industry sources, this agreement gives Ireland the potential to double the number of US visitors by 2012 to two million and should add, each year, an extra 150,000 visitors and €100 million in revenue to the Irish economy.

It is also very timely in terms of our marketing efforts in this vital market. Tourism Ireland has recently begun a review of the North American market, which follows on from similar reviews of Great Britain and continental Europe. This review aims to ensure that Ireland's marketing approach is designed to deliver maximum growth from North America in 2006 and beyond. Tourism Ireland has established consultative steering groups of industry members on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that a commercial perspective is brought to bear on all aspects of the review's work. Tourism Ireland aims to complete the market review by the middle of 2006.

In summary, while the US market this year has proven challenging, the scene is now set for a much stronger Irish performance over the coming years.