I propose to answer Questions Nos. 773, 781 and 794 together. It is difficult to assess precisely the overall impact of the recent disturbances in Northern Ireland on tourism performance this year and potentially for 1997 but Bord Fáilte's ongoing monitoring shows that, in those markets where inquiry levels dropped in the immediate aftermath of the incidents, they recovered quickly following successful advertising campaigns.
Bord Fáilte is continuing to closely monitor the situation in association with key carriers, tour operators and product suppliers. Appropriate strategies to deal with situations such as this have already been considered by Bord Fáilte and the Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative who, notwithstanding the latest disturbances, will continue to promote and sell Ireland as vigorously as possible in overseas markets, having regard to available funds. Bord Fáilte still anticipates growth from all of the principal overseas markets in 1996 and the target set for overall growth in visitor numbers is 10 per cent. Bord Fáilte considers that this target is achievable and this is borne out by the most recently available statistics from the Central Statistics Office for the period January to March 1996 which were up 11 per cent over the same period in 1995.