Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

294. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the list of countries that have been included in the visa waiver programme; the tourism numbers from those countries that have already been included; the potential numbers that are being projected by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7278/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The short-stay visa waiver programme falls within the responsibilities of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality.  The programme, which was launched in 2011, allows visitors or business people from selected countries who have lawfully entered the UK, including Northern Ireland, on a valid UK visa, to travel on to Ireland without the requirement to obtain an Irish visa. Details of the countries that have been included in the programme to date are available on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service .  

With regard to the number of visitors from countries included in the short-stay visa waiver programme, responsibility for the publication of figures on visitor numbers is a matter for the Central Statistics Office, which comes under the Department of the Taoiseach.  However, I am advised that there were an estimated 109,000 visitors from these countries in 2013, an increase of 66% when compared with 2010, the last full year before the visa waiver programme was introduced.  

Tourism Ireland is the agency with responsibility for the overseas marketing of the Island of Ireland as a holiday destination and works to develop Ireland as a visitor destination in new and developing markets, including those covered by the visa waiver but also others, such as Brazil, which do not require visas for short stays.  The agency has set an overall target of growing visit numbers by a further 4% this year and by 13% by 2016 compared to the 2013 numbers. In this regard, the agency's Business Plan for 2014 and Corporate Plan for 2014-2016 include a number of actions to maximise the number of visitors from developing markets including continuing to work with the relevant authorities to exploit further opportunities to promote the short-stay visa waiver programme.