John Deasy
Question:153 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the number of attacks on tourists, as reported in the national media recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10633/04]
View answerTuesday, 6 April 2004
Questions (69)
Written answers
I am aware that, as reported recently at the launch of its 2003 annual report, the tourist victim support service dealt with a total of 357 cases of crimes against tourists last year. This was an increase of 4% on the 344 cases reported for the previous year. I understand that the majority of the cases, 188, were in regard to theft but, regretfully, some 22 cases involved violence against tourists.
I deplore any increase in the level of crime against tourists, in particular as they are a vulnerable group away from their home country and without a network of family and friends to support them. For this reason, I applaud the work of the tourist victim support service and I am encouraged by the support and close co-operation that the service continues to receive from the Garda Síochána.
I would like to acknowledge also the role the service plays in terms of providing top quality safety information guides for tourists and was pleased to be associated with its launch last year. I wish the service every success in this its tenth anniversary year. I would urge the tourism sector, and wider commercial interests that benefit from tourism, to fully support the service in its very important work both with tourists in crisis and in safety awareness.
While any level of crime is unacceptable, it is important to have a sense of perspective. In a survey carried out last year, of cities in 215 countries, Ireland proved to be one of the safest destinations for tourists and Dublin was found to be the 18th safest city in the world.