Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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683. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to attract the Web Summit to return here in view of the hugely successful web summit in Portugal recently and considering that this event was originally held in Dublin; if he has held any discussions with the promoters in terms of the supports that can be provided to facilitate such a return; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34937/16]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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It is disappointing that the Web Summit made the decision in 2015 to move to Lisbon for the following three years, particularly as it had been such a great success in Dublin and grown so impressively over the previous five years. However, the organisers were very clear about their intention to leave and that was a commercial matter for the organisers to consider and decide.

That said, I am very open to engaging with the organisers of the Web Summit with regard to them returning to Dublin.

It should be noted that Fáilte Ireland continues to work with the international conferencing sector to win events and many other events are continuing to choose Dublin and Ireland as their host destination.

Business tourism was worth approximately €670 million to the Irish economy in 2015 and every indication is that 2016 will mark a further increase in business tourism activity in Ireland. It accounts for 20,000 jobs in Ireland and is one of our highest yielding sectors in tourism.