Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, on her new portfolio. I consider her to be a capable member of a rather incapable Government.

One of the difficulties the Government faces is that no member of the Cabinet has ever been in business. Government Ministers know nothing about paying rates or the JLC wage structure. They do not understand the difficulties faced by businesses. I am sure it is a nice accounting trick to impose a €10 tax on everyone who flies into the country in order to raise tens of millions. There is no doubt that this is a handy way to bring in money but, as previous speakers stated, it is costing us more in the long term.

There has been some discussion with regard to the destinations to which people can fly in this country. Areas with airports are lucky because they get the first bite at the cherry in the context of attracting tourism revenues. However, difficulties arise for areas which do not contain accessible airports because the statistics show that fewer people are prepared to travel on to the regions from the point at which they enter the country. I refer to the county in which I live, Wexford, in this regard.

The Ceann Comhairle has family in Blackwater in County Wexford. He will be familiar with Courtown, to which tax designation was granted in the early 1990s. As a result of the tax breaks available from the State, thousands of houses were built in Courtown. However, we cannot encourage people to stay in these houses when they come here, particularly if the Government is intent on imposing a tax on those who travel to this country by aeroplane. The starting point with regard to dealing with this matter is the abolition of the travel tax, which is a stupid measure. In addition, the Government must offer some form of incentive for tourists to visit areas where tax breaks were offered to people to build houses. There are thousands of houses in some areas that were given tax designation but there are no tourism attractions in these places. The Government must take action to reverse the position and put in place such attractions.

On the subject of zombie hotels, I spoke to one individual who is a hotelier - he is not a developer - and whose business it is to provide people with a place to stay. There has been a great deal of discussion with regard to the provision of services in this State, particularly to those who come here to spend money while on holiday. The man to whom I refer is in competition with hotels that are operated by State-guaranteed banks. He is, therefore, in competition with the taxpayer in the context of trying to provide people with a place to stay. In such circumstances, there is no way he can win.

When the banks get their money from NAMA and do whatever it is they intend to do with the hotels they own, the man to whom I refer and others like him will still be trading. These are the people the Minister will be meeting during the next two years or so. It is they who she will need to assist her in driving the industry forward. It would be reckless of her if she failed to ensure that those to whom I refer will not be subjected to unfair competition.

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