Ms Catherine Flanagan:

Just before the Senator came in, my colleague Ms Geraldine Enright had been speaking about new forms of energy, which of course feeds into today's wider conversation. Visitor attractions are in phase 2 of the roll-out by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland, ZEVI, of EV charging points in destinations around the country. This is something we look forward to. Yet, in order for those points to be of use to people, and for the ZEVI points to be sufficiently serviced all over the country, the grid needs to be in place. That will enable people to come to us in rural locations.

Additionally, because we are a sector that has a lot of heritage buildings in it, we would like to see retrofitting and finding the solutions, whether this is in the form of funds or green lending, as Mr. Connick suggested, in order to enable us to adopt more sustainable practices. Until those are in place, as I am sure the Senator knows, we will be dealing with the cost of doing business. Just before we came before the committee, we were speaking about current energy costs. The temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, has been extremely helpful over the winter months. Mr. Connick gave me an example of the figures. I am not sure whether he wants to discuss the figures he referenced. Obviously, there is a shortfall when one compares prices from last year with the subsidy to see businesses through this year. We happen to be a sector that operates off very low margins. Our average yield is €10 per head, per ticket. We might have a food and beverage yield or a retail yield of approximately €4 per head. The margins are very tight in our sector, and this is particularly the case for businesses that are not-for-profit or operate as charitable trusts. There are challenges in the cost of doing business, and at the moment energy is a primary cost of doing business. That, plus the cost of credit, makes it difficult for us to apply for loans to make changes in order to address that energy anomaly. Certainly, the cost of doing business is a primary concern of everybody this year.