Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 26 September 2013

Public Accounts Committee

Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012: Discussion with National Asset Management Agency

12:00 pm

Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

Absolutely. There has been a great improvement in hotels. In 2010 one of my big concerns about the hotels portfolio was that occupancy levels were down to somewhere between 40% and 50%. These levels are now over 90% in Dublin and in some of the better tourism areas in Cork, Limerick, and Galway they are around 80% to 90%. There has been a significant turnaround in the hotel sector and there is more buyer interest. Factors include the improving economy, while The Gathering has also resulted in a significant influx of tourists. Many people wish to buy assets in Ireland. A person complained to me last week that he had flown into the country in his private jet and had to pay €300 a night for a hotel room in Dublin, as if he were in London. I suggested he could pay London property prices for Irish property if he wished.