Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

On that issue, I spoke to a hotelier in Cork who pays €10,000 a week in rates. It adds up to €500,000 a year, which nobody can sustain. That is not even in Dublin; it is in Cork. The hoteliers are reducing their prices but their inputs must come down. That means local authority inputs must come down.

My question is related and the Minister was about to touch on it. Many of the hotels established in recent years are developer hotels and not hotelier hotels and many have gone into examinership. They are trading in a little cocoon and are protected from all normal commitments they might have. They have a holiday from payments, which are obligations for hotels that are not in examinership. A problem of unfair competition arises between hotels in examinership and those struggling but not yet in trouble. Those hotels are reducing their prices but hotels in examinership are slashing their prices just to bring in some cash. The examiner will want to bring in some cash to minimise the losses and to make some contribution to overheads. In the short term, that is very good for the consumer but in the long-term, it is not much good if it drives all the original hoteliers out of business.

The issue of examinership will have to be addressed. It is very obvious in the hotel industry but it will happen in many other businesses. Has the Minister had the opportunity to talk to the Minister for Finance or the Tánaiste? Who would deal with an issue such as this? Obviously, the use of examinership has increased hugely and it is causing problems for legitimate businesses which are struggling and just about keeping their heads above water.

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