Mr. Stephen McNally:

Last year, a PwC report clarified that Dublin is the fourth most occupied city in Europe in terms of the number of hotel rooms we sell versus what is available. Regarding rates, we are 14th in Europe. We sit around the same place as Edinburgh and Brussels but €50 behind places such as London and Paris. Fáilte Ireland conducts very frequent surveys. From the point of view of tourists, we have probably never been at the current 91% level of satisfaction with the rates, meaning they are fair or good, compared with where we were three years ago. I congratulate the Government on the initiative of the landing charges and the 9% VAT.

Although more hotels could be built in Dublin city centre, to build a hotel costs more than to buy a hotel, and that is an issue. There is great demand in Dublin city centre for alternative use due to the new technology businesses coming in and the shortage of housing. Pricing is very important to the industry. When the Football Association of Ireland, FAI, bid for the European Championships, we organised a meeting with the FAI and within two weeks we had sufficient rooms gathered for the event at appropriate rates. It was no different from the Web Summit or any other event. Up to 75% of the rooms are negotiated far out, meaning they have agreed a rate for a number of rooms in a hotel and contracted those rates. Media stories tend to report on a survey taken in the last week. By that stage, 90% of the hotels' accommodation is gone and they are selling their last few rooms, which are usually suites or executive rooms, and they put the prices up to what they can charge for them, almost like a supply and demand scenario.

Before I came in this morning, I checked rates for the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. If one wanted to come to Dublin that weekend, one could get a four star hotel room in Dublin for €120 for two people, in some cases including breakfast. Once could get a three star hotel room for €80 or €90. The flight prices were fairly similar, so one could get a good flight and accommodation deal. As we get closer to the date and places fill up, hotels and airlines will raise their prices in line. I go to Croke Park a lot and I pay a different price for quarter final tickets and final tickets. The media will come out and say Dublin hotels are charging exorbitant prices, but it is based on the last few rooms rather than the majority of rooms. We would not achieve events such as the Web Summit or any of the major conferences that come into the city if we were not competitive, and we are very conscious of it.

As a federation, we cannot set prices, however when an event comes into Dublin, Limerick, Cork or anywhere else, our members rally around with the tourism bodies to get behind the event and ensure it comes to Ireland. The American football game is coming up in 2016 and the next big event will be in the first week in September. We are already negotiating rates for those groups. One hears sound bites in the media, and while some hotels are charging their optimal rates, it is only because demand dictates it. We are very good as a city and country at bringing events in. We pay attention to Fáilte Ireland's statistics to examine how and why our customers are responding to the rates. The rate is driven by the customer. While anybody can put up a rate, the customer will drive what one can and cannot charge for the room.

While many of our members around the country are still in difficulty, they have had a much better year this year. Initiatives such as the Wild Atlantic Way are great. A new launch of the south-eastern heritage trail is coming. Although we look at Ireland by county, the tourist looks at it by region. Tourists visit parts of the Wild Atlantic Way and do not mind which county it is in. As the economy recovers, Irish people are visiting the Wild Atlantic Way who had not been there. This year, I spoke to people who had not been to Donegal or some parts of it before. We launched events up there, with some hotels naming their rooms after parts of the Wild Atlantic Way. It is a great initiative. It is also important to note that it is economic for a town or village on the Wild Atlantic Way, where petrol stations and restaurants benefit from it. The objective is to extend the season and ensure people will visit our regions. We have work to do. As we mentioned earlier, while numbers are growing, expenditure is reducing, and while we might not notice a problem now, our numbers could plateau or decrease in three or four years' time. Expenditure on tourism must be maintained, not reduced because the numbers are improving. We have driven tourism numbers and jobs and, overall, it has been very positive.