Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I extend a warm welcome to all of the witnesses who make regular appearances at this committee. It is good to have that frequency of engagement between the practitioners and the legislative body. I thank them for that. I also thank the Department.

Mr. O’Mara Walsh spoke about the value proposition. He spoke of extracting the cranes from Dublin or the tractors from the field and the impact that that would have on any sector and, by extension, the effect the extraction of rooms from supply would have on the tourism sector and the impact it would have on the price of rooms. That sounded very ominous. Earlier this year, Mr. O’Mara Walsh and all the representatives here argued very strongly at this committee for the retention of the 9% VAT rate. The sector was asking for fair play from the Government. All the Government parties supported the industry in that regard and argued hard for retaining that rate. A little over a month later, I get the sense that the sector is setting out a scenario whereby there will be high prices in the summer, a sort of scorched earth, and we will get this in any event. That worries me greatly. Perhaps Mr. O’Mara Walsh will tell me my fears are misplaced in that respect.