Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Munster.

I am somewhat concerned by the Minister's assertion that we have ambitious tourism targets because we do not. The national tourism target for 2025 is 10 million visitors but we are at 9 million visitors now. I do not think our targets are ambitious enough. I also do not think the funding that has been allocated to the respective tourism bodies is sufficient. In August last year, in the aftermath of Brexit, the UK Government pumped €40 million into a targeted tourism campaign. Will the Department review our tourism policy to take into account the fact that the figures in the current policy are outdated? I must acknowledge that certain policy decisions made by the previous Government contributed significantly to increases in tourism, the obvious one being the decrease in the VAT rate for the hospitality sector. While that is not directly under the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's remit, I would welcome his comments on it. What is under his remit, however, is the abolition of the travel tax. That also played a significant role in increasing the number of visitors to our airports. Is the Minister committed to that tax being abolished? Will he commit to introducing a new tourism policy that takes account of the fact that our targets are totally outdated? As I said, we are at 9 million visitors already and are eight years away from 2025.