Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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235. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which growth is expected in the tourism sector over the next three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27737/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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2013 was an excellent year for Irish tourism with the total number of overseas visits growing by 7.2%. All of our main markets grew compared to 2012 and we enjoyed our highest ever number of visits from North America. Figures recently published by the CSO show that for the 3 month period of February-April ‘14, overseas visit numbers grew by 7.5 % compared with the same period in 2013.

In terms of targets for 2014, the approved Tourism Ireland Business Plan for 2014 contains a target of growing visit numbers to Ireland by a further 4% this year and growing the associated revenue from these overseas visits by 7%. As part of its actions to reach this target, Tourism Ireland is undertaking extensive marketing campaigns in all of our main overseas markets. Furthermore, I am confident that measures such as the retention of the lower VAT rate for tourism services, the reduction of the air travel tax to zero from April and the increased air access to Ireland will also help to ensure that the targets are met.

In relation to the next three years, the approved Tourism Ireland Corporate Plan 2014-2016 includes a target of increasing overseas visits by 13% by 2016 compared to 2013.  The Plan contains a range of actions to achieve this target, in areas such as destination branding, consumer engagement, and collaboration with other agencies and commercial partners.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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236. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which the hotel and catering industries are sufficient to meet the demands of the tourism sector now and for the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27738/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The most recent statistics for January to October 2013 show hotel capacity unchanged compared to the same period in 2012 but occupancy rates up one percentage point to 64%.  Occupancy rates for other forms of accommodation were lower, with the next highest being guesthouses at 53% in the period January to October 2013.

Occupancy rates for hotels are higher in Dublin and have improved considerably over the last couple of years.  Although hotels in Dublin remain good value compared to other West European city destinations, in order to maintain the competitiveness of the sector there would appear to be scope for investment in hotels and other tourist accommodation in Dublin, particularly in the city centre where demand is highest.

These statistics would indicate, therefore, that notwithstanding the potential issues with hotels in Dublin, the country as a whole has sufficient stock of tourist accommodation to meet the needs of the industry.

I am not aware of any issues with regard to the availability of restaurants, however, I should point out that they are not required to register with Fáilte Ireland. Given that the level of investment required to enter the market is of an order of magnitude less than that for hotels, I am confident that the market can respond sufficiently quickly to any changes in demand.