Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of actions that were proposed in the new horizons for Irish tourism that have been implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34912/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to the Dáil Debates of 13 October 2005, column 1364, where I outlined the position in relation to the implementation of the first two year tourism action plan as recommended in the tourism policy review group's report, New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action. I expect to receive the implementation group's third and final report early in 2006.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 40: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his reaction to new figures from the Central Statistics Office showing that the number of Irish people travelling abroad has increased by more than a million in five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34893/05]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I am very conscious of the fact that our greater economic prosperity over the last number of years has meant that Irish people are in a position to go on holidays more often and further afield. This has also been good for domestic tourism which has seen a significant increase over a similar period. CSO figures show that international trips by Irish residents have increased from 3.77 million in 2000 to 5.46 million trips in 2004, up 1.69 million. Over the same period, domestic travel by Irish residents also increased from 5.48 million to 7 million trips, up 1.52 million. In 2004, a total of 7 million trips were taken within the Republic by Irish residents, with an expenditure of €1 billion. This represents an increase of 5% on the number of domestic trips taken in 2003 while expenditure increased by 7%.

Fáilte Ireland has responsibility for promoting the home holiday market and has been very active in working with the industry to optimise the increasing potential of the domestic holiday maker. In 2005, some €4 million has been allocated by Fáilte Ireland to home holiday promotion. Fáilte Ireland's consumer website for the domestic market, Ireland.ie, which was launched early this year, has proven particularly successful in generating quality year round business for the sector. Fáilte Ireland also publishes the highly successful Discover Ireland series of brochures aimed at the domestic consumer.