Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to come in there because I do not believe it is media hype and headlines. I will give an example. I am a Deputy from Waterford. When I come up on a Tuesday, I stay two nights and get a very good rate of €108 in a hotel quite close by where I am looked after very well. On the first Sunday in September when the all-Ireland hurling final took place, I looked for the same room I stay in on a Tuesday and Wednesday and was quoted €269. I said "You must be joking" and the answer was "No, it is all-Ireland Sunday". That is an absolute fact. I have no reason to put it any other way. I would have expected €169 or €179 but €269 was the amount quoted for the exact same room I get mid-week. I understand that weekend prices are different. I would expect them to be perhaps €50 or €60 more. The increase from €108 to €269 is a fact and these are the people around the country who are coming to Dublin at weekends for concerts, conferences and matches. They try to book rooms in advance, but it is impossible to get a hotel room at the weekend for less than €200 per night in Dublin. Those are the facts as I know them.