Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are hearing it all the time. Like my colleagues, I travel to Dublin every week. We have to book hotel rooms, so we are very aware of the prices that are being charged and of the existence of capacity issues. If we do not book in advance, it is hard to get a room during the week or at the weekend. This issue has been the subject of a great deal of discussion. I think the federation should take it on board. The focus of today's meeting is on the cost of doing business. If the hotel sector loses the lower VAT rate, the price of hotel rooms will certainly increase.