Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to see an all-Ireland approach. All of the points have been raised in the submissions and everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet on the 9% VAT rate, the aviation regulation framework and tourism promotion such as the Titanic Experience and Ireland's Ancient East. The only flaw I see across the way is that I am looking at six men. It is ironic in this day of equal opportunities in employment that the females seem to have stepped aside.

The issue I ask about is Brexit about which every economic sector in Ireland is worried. We are all up in the air at the moment. Do the witnesses have plans in place whether the UK goes the hard or soft route? We do not know when it will kick in because of the court case issues in Britain. However, the public has made its call and there will be some kind of Brexit. That has been even more affirmed because of the Trump victory in America. One gentleman made the point that a Brexit fund should have been put in place in the recent budget for the tourism sector. However, as Deputy Troy said, there was actually a cut in funding from the Government to the tourism sector.

Another good point was made about Airbnb, about which there is fierce talk and the conflict in terms of apartments which used to be rented. I am not in favour of abolishing it. It is very wanted. I experience it myself as a Deputy from down the country who finds it a nightmare to get a hotel room in Dublin. When will the industry sort out capacity and, more importantly, pricing in the hotel sector in the capital itself? The industry is aware that the IRFU is touting big time for the Rugby World Cup to be hosted North and South. Is the industry confident that it will have the bed capacity available in that period to carry the major influx we would expect then?

In the last number of years, there was a major drive by local authorities to operate their own tourism initiatives. Are the witnesses happy with the way they are going? Are they doing a good enough job? I sat on Cork County Council and we had our SPC. It is all about funding at the end of the day. Are the witnesses happy that tourism through the local authority mechanism is working correctly?