Mr. Eoghan O'Mara Walsh:

We would not be in favour of it because as the Deputy said in his initial question, many taxes are passed on to the consumer. Ultimately, that is how they have to be recouped. The tourism sector pays approximately €2 billion each year to the Exchequer in tourism related taxes anyway. In fact, in the strategy we have identified that there is a 34:1 return. Every euro spent on tourism gives €34 back to the Exchequer in direct tourism related taxes. We do not believe it is the right way to go about increasing tourism because it is a cost that ultimately is borne by the consumer. This is a fiercely competitive space, particularly when we look at the United Kingdom market, which is in retreat. As Mr. Pratt mentioned, that is Brexit related but Brexit has not happened yet so it is a currency effect as much as anything else. Already, Ireland is more expensive to the British consumer, therefore, the idea of adding tourism taxes to the system would not be sensible in our view.