John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I certainly agree with Deputy Wall that there has been a great deal of very bad publicity that has reflected poorly on the industry at large, especially over the past year or so. Shortly after I entered office, I pointed out that we had a problem with competitiveness and that we would have to address the issue. Various measures to do so have been undertaken since. We now have more special offers in the tourism industry. The Restaurants Association of Ireland and the IHF came forward with a very innovative tourism menu that meant that visitors could obtain lower prices in restaurants at certain times. In fairness, the contribution of the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs has been significant. We should all appreciate that we will not remove the media glare unless the underlying problem is addressed. I agree with Deputy Wall that a small number of people in the drinks, accommodation and food industry are giving the remainder a bad name.

To address that, I was pleased that the Director of Consumer Affairs undertook surveys, for example, last March, in and around Lansdowne Road. He found that six in every ten publicans raised prices during special events and sporting occasions. I was also very pleased to note that the Director of Consumer Affairs subsequently took up the practice of advertising the results. Afterwards, the media comment proved extremely positive for the industry. People became worried that the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs would advertise their practices in the media, and we saw an immediate reluctance to increase prices. The media can do the industry a good service by pointing out where people are engaged in practices that make our economy, and especially our tourism industry, appear unattractive or uncompetitive. Those who increase prices for the sake of the occasion to take advantage of the punter do a grave disservice to the industry and nation at large, and especially their colleagues. It is very important that this House continues to say to all comers that such practices are simply not acceptable and that we will not tolerate them.

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