Mr. Joe Dolan:

Deputy Neville asked how we could enhance the trading environment, in addition to the VAT rate measure which has been absolutely wonderful. There are hotels that are open today which otherwise would not be and hotels are reinvesting and people are employed as a direct result of it. That said, it is not really a reduced rate but a realignment with our European counterparts with whom we compete.

Tourism has been the shining light in our economy but for many reasons that are outside our control and for which we should not really take the credit. We are happy to take the benefit, but it is the result of external factors such as fuel prices and cheap airfares covering our destination markets, events in southern Europe and that sort of stuff. If we really want to control our own destiny and enhance our trading environment, we have to start reinvesting in marketing now. Our overseas marketing has been reduced by 40% since 2008 and is still flat. I have heard a silly argument, which is that it has been cut successfully in that we tend to do better every time it has been cut. It is like running a car on an empty tank. We know what will happen eventually, which is that it will grind to a halt. We need to put money back into investment, particularly in light of Brexit. We have a huge dependency on the UK market, particularly in rural Ireland, because the UK visitor has the greatest and broadest regional penetration. We also have to invest in our product, which is getting very tired, including product renewal, product development and infrastructure.

Finally, there are skills shortages, so we need to start putting money back into training and professional development, particularly at craft level. Those are some of the things that would enhance the trading environment in the hospitality sector.