Kennelly, a travel agent, mysteriously disappeared in the French capital on 9 September. But, just as hopes of him being found safe were fading, he showed up in a Paris police station last Monday.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs told the Sunday Tribune yesterday that Kennelly is expected to travel home some time early this week.

The department is still in daily contact with his family and is continuing to provide them with consular assistance.

The father-of-three appeared to have vanished into thin air having last been seen leaving the Meridien Etoile Hotel at 7am for a morning walk on Sunday 9 September. Filmed on CCTV leaving the hotel, he was due to take a flight to Cork that afternoon. He had told his family he was going for a stroll around the city and would return to meet them at the hotel at 10am but he did not show up. He had travelled to France with his wife Marie and their two adult children to attend a trade show.

The Kennelly family have declined to comment on a series of media reports that their father and husband claims to have got into "serious trouble" within a couple of hours of leaving his hotel near the Champs-Elysees.

It has been reported that Kennelly can remember entering a Paris metro station where a number of men drugged him and took him to a flat on the outskirts of the city.

He remembers feeling ill after taking the metro and he was still under the influence of some kind of drug when he was taken to an unknown address in the Parisian suburbs.

A spokesman for the Paris police said "We can confirm that Mr John Kennelly has complained of being sexually assaulted and then being held against his will. All of his claims are being investigated."

Kennelly has a high-blood-pressure condition and, prior to his disappearance, was on medication which can cause memory loss.

The Kennelly family have a history of neurological conditions and John Kennelly's mother died from an aneurism while in her 40s.

A number of local people, including family friend and FG TD Jimmy Deenihan, had travelled to Paris to assist in the search effort over the past two months.

Over 1,000 posters of the Kerryman were distributed all over Paris and on all Ryanair and Aer Lingus flights to Paris during the World Cup. However, French privacy laws had prevented the family putting his picture in newspapers or from showing it on French television.

The family's solicitor, Louis McDonagh, has spoken of their "tremendous relief" that Kennelly presented himself to French police. The businessman is believed to have been receiving medical treatment in the French capital for the past week and has also been helping Parisien police with their investigation into his mysterious disappearance.

A statement released by the Kennelly family to The Kingdom newspaper last week stated: "The family of John Kennelly is pleased and relieved to learn that John has been located in Paris.

John is receiving medical attention and family members have travelled to Paris to be with him at this time.

At present, John's family has no more details other than those already in circulation.

"John's family is extremely grateful to all those who have lent assistance of any type and who rallied to their aid during recent weeks."