Yesterday the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, together with the United Kingdom Home Secretary, Theresa May, formally launched the British-Irish visa scheme at the Irish Embassy in London. This scheme will facilitate foreign nationals requiring a short-stay visa to travel freely within the common travel area using a single visa issued by either Ireland or the United Kingdom. This will mean that tourists, business visitors and other eligible visitors will, for the first time, be permitted to visit the United Kingdom and Ireland, including moving freely between North and South, on a single visa. The Minister and the Home Secretary announced that from later this month, China, followed shortly thereafter by India, will be the first countries in the world to benefit from the British-Irish visa scheme. The Minister and the Home Secretary have also agreed to review the operation, and depending on the success of the scheme in China and India, it is intended to extend it to all countries by the end of next year. A few years' ago the British-Irish visa scheme would have seemed impossible. The scheme will boost tourism and business travel to both islands and no doubt will provide a clear and powerful message that the British Isles and the island of Ireland are open for world-wide business and tourism. This scheme augurs well for tourism and the Minister and the Home Secretary are to be complimented for completing this historic agreement for both countries.

It is a truly good news story for tourism-----

The Senator is way over time.

-----and the continued co-operation between the two countries.