Mr. Tim Fenn:

I would like to make two points. First, we accept there is a problem. We are trying to define and explain it as best we can. We have been presenting figures to the committee today. STR Global is the recognised source of average room prices and occupancy rates in Dublin. Approximately 15,000 of the 19,000 rooms in Dublin are on its books. This is a hugely significant sample size. Nobody else has figures like STR Global's average figures, which are written in tablets of stone. We do not have such figures. We accept STR Global's figures as the industry figures. That is the reality.

The second point I would like to make is that the last available rate, which seems to be the issue here, peaks when big matches and events are taking place and there is very little availability. I am not aware of anybody who has information on the composite rate and can say what percentage of rooms are sold at the last available rate. The STR Global figures show that a Dublin has a high percentage of four-star and five-star hotels. The hotel stock in Dublin is of a very good quality. Its percentage of high-end rooms is greater than that of other European cities with which it is compared. My point is that the STR Global figures are the best figures available to us. We cannot give the committee any other figures.