58 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if her attention has been drawn to the possible damage to Irish tourism arising from the published air fares from North America to Ireland, Britain and Europe, whereby it will be substantially cheaper to fly to Britain; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Government policy on the level of air fares to and from Ireland is that they should be at least as competitive as those to countries with whom we compete in international markets. In the case of fares to Ireland from the US, Aer Lingus constantly monitor their fares to ensure that they are competitive with fares to other points in Europe and to Britain in particular. Aer Lingus are aware that there are available at present very attractive air fares for travel from the US to Britain and in line with Government policy are planning a competitive reaction to them.