Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

noting that:

— in 2009 tourism contributed €5.2 billion in revenue - €1.2 billion benefiting the Exchequer in taxation;

— employment in the accommodation and food sector alone accounted for 119,800 jobs in 2009;

— Fáilte Ireland has estimated that for every additional €1 million spent by tourists an additional 23 jobs are created;

— tourism provides employment and economic opportunities in both rural and urban areas;

— tourism provides employment across a wide range of skill and qualification levels; and

— tourism is an indigenous industry so wealth generated by tourism stays in Ireland;

concerned that:

— the number of overseas visitors to Ireland dropped precipitously down 11.6% in 2009, a drop of almost 1 million visitors;

— an estimated 35,000 jobs were lost in the accommodation and food sector in 2009;

— the length of stay from overseas visitors declined in 2009 and that this fall occurred in all of Ireland's major markets;

— the Government has responded to this by creating further barriers to entry such as the air travel tax;

— the State continues to lag behind on broadband penetration which is essential to tourism in the 21st century and has yet to fully take advantage of the platform offered by the Internet; and

— the Government has refused to introduce legislation to allow for downward review of commercial rents which is causing huge damage to the tourism industry;

calls on the Government to:

— immediately abolish or significantly reduce the air travel tax;

— develop interactive Irish tourism applications for mobile internet devices and

computers;

— develop Ireland's capacity as an eco-tourism destination;

— introduce legislation to allow for the downward review of rents;

— substantially improve access to and quality of broadband in Ireland, particularly in rural areas;

— ensure that the Tourism Marketing Fund is protected as an investment in the tourism industry;

— improve processing times for visas for overseas tourists, particularly those from non-Schengen countries;

— develop policies to ensure Irish tourism is able to capitalise on the growth markets of the 21st century;

— ensure that institutions that are covered by the State bank guarantee are required to unfreeze credit for small businesses;

— ensure that all business within the accommodation and hospitality industry comply with employment legislation;

— ensure that the issue of potential distortion of the hotel sector by NAMA be addressed immediately by the Government;

— immediately address the issue of 'zombie hotels';

— establish a working group comprised of all interested parties in the hotel sector to draw up a framework to protect the accommodation industry without rewarding reckless investors;

— protect and develop the bed and breakfast sector;

— extend the Culture Night initiative into a twice yearly event; and

— review the functions, systems and efficiency of the semi-State agencies in the tourism sector.

I wish to share my time with Deputies Tommie Broughan and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.

See this speech in context