178. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of persons who visited each Office of Public Works heritage site in each of the years 2014 and 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2175/16]

A total of approx 4.45m people visited OPW-managed heritage sites in 2014. The breakdown is as follows.

The figures for 2015 are still in the process of being compiled and will be available shortly. Provisional estimates indicate however that the total visitors have again increased over the 2014 total.

It should be noted that these figures relate to those sites where the OPW Heritage Services provide Guide facilities and where visitor numbers are fully recorded. There are significantly more visitors to heritage sites in OPW care which are not attended by staff and where there is no facility to record footfall. Overall therefore, it is clear that there are many more people attending at heritage sites throughout the country than the formally recorded figures would indicate.