Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will confirm the status of Ireland.com; the reason behind its purchase by Tourism Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47542/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Tourism Ireland was established under the framework of the Belfast Agreement of Good Friday 1998. It is jointly funded by the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, and operates under the auspices of the North/South Ministerial Council through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and my Department here.  

As I have previously stated, the decision to purchase the domain name “Ireland.com” from the Irish Times,  and an analysis of a business case in this regard are operational matters for Tourism Ireland Limited and its Board while the issue of accommodating existing @ireland.com email address holders in as helpful and fair a manner as possible is the responsibility of the Irish Times.  

In terms of the business case for the purchase, I understand that Tourism Ireland firmly believes that having a simple domain name  like “Ireland.com” will have significant benefits to them. Primarily it is considered that, given the ease of recognition and memorability, the new domain name will deliver greater “stand out” for Ireland around the world. At present “Ireland.com” is a competitor with Tourism Ireland's discoverireland.com domain name for search engine traffic. Accordingly, the acquisition will be beneficial in accessing that traffic. Furthermore Tourism Ireland’s business case for the project identified that cost savings will also be achieved through a reduction in their  paid search engine optimisation activity. I understand that Tourism Ireland’s projections show that the costs of the acquisition will be fully recouped in just over three years.  

Finally, with regard to "The Gathering Ireland 2013", having a simple domain name like “Ireland.com” can only help in projecting an even stronger online presence to achieve our ambitious targets for visitor numbers next year and beyond.