Mr. Gerard Brady:

It is a difficult question. It gets more difficult. If one talks to people in Dublin, one will see the recovery in tourism. If one talks to our members in much of the rest of the country, however, particularly in the north west where approximately 40% of the tourists come from the UK, and UK tourism has dropped by 7% year on year, one will see a very different story. VAT rates cannot be varied by region. The Greeks and the Austrians have some kind of opt-outs from the VAT directives but we do not. Our view is that it should be kept because of the significant Brexit threat to the regions, particularly for areas of the country that are non-traditional for tourism. The south west and Dublin are traditionally strong, but in the north west and midlands some 40% of tourists come from the UK, where tourism numbers are dropping off. On balance, it should be kept for that reason.