Ryanair exec disputes CSO tourist figures

Ryaniar's deputy chief executive is refuting claims that there's been an increase in the number of tourists coming here.

Last week, the CSO released figures that showed there were 12,300 more visitors to Ireland between April and June this year compared to the same period in 2011.

But when announcing the airline's five new routes from Cork to Poland and Lithuania today, Ryanair's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said there's no improvement in tourism numbers.

He said it’s impossible for tourism numbers to be up when air traffic into the country is down.