Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would say that is true.

With regard to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, I have the bid timetable. The applicant phase is from May 2016 until September 2016. The candidate phase is from November 2016 to June 2017, the evaluation phase is from June 2017 to November 2017 and the World Rugby class decision is November 2017. This is a very exciting project and it is a real runner. It will be wonderful for Ireland, tourism and the economy. Having spoken to some of the people involved in the committee, which is headed up by some really prominent sportsmen here and the Department, there is a real enthusiasm behind this bid. It is a realistic bid and the people involved are taking it very seriously. It will cost a little but it will bring back much more if it works.

This is a serious bid by Ireland. The Department considers that Ireland is really in the running for this and it would be a fantastic lift for the nation if we could pull it off, particularly after the ambassadorial role played by our footballers. It would be a wonderful message to go across the world. We are putting a lot of effort into the bid on which I hope to be able to report some progress fairly shortly.

With regard to VAT I was struck by the point raised by the Chairman, Deputy Griffin. This realisation is sinking in for people, and I do not know whether the Chairman was right or wrong, but I was thinking the same way as him. The Chairman is correct in that it looks as though it might have different kinds of regional benefits. We are seeing a situation where some of the larger hotels in Dublin are benefiting from this and are making very large sums of money. They benefit from the lower VAT rate situation. Despite that I am not saying it should be removed from them but maybe they do not need it as much. Disproportionately there are people outside that group who are very dependent on the VAT rate and have rightly benefited from it. It has given a boost to the economy, to the economy in those areas, in the smaller hospitality areas and for the smaller businesses. There may be a case for looking at the situation in a more weighted way. I do not know and I am not trying to say anything which is sensational. However, it is obviously very important to people outside Dublin and it should be retained there. Given that hotel pricing is so high in Dublin they are inviting examination on whether they should be the beneficiaries of that lower VAT rate for too long. There is a great case to be made for holidaying at home and those points were well made.

I was impressed with the comments about "Top Gear". Winter tourism is something we should be looking at for the future. I hope I have covered all the points that Deputies have raised.