Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response but there are growing concerns. We had reports yesterday concerning the slowdown in growth of our exports to the UK in the same period and they are less valuable to us now because of the decline in sterling. There is a fall-off in the hospitality industry of people coming here; I know this relates to the Department of the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, rather than the Ministers who are present.

The motor trade is a very important industry in this country and it has over 40,000 workers, contributing approximately €1.5 billion to the Exchequer last year through vehicle registration tax, VAT and so on. That was significantly up on 2015. As the Minister states, the industry saw significant recovery after the recession. We will have a debate this week on the outrageous price gouging in car insurance for younger and older drivers, which is very annoying. I am glad to hear the Minister will have a sectoral response to the motor industry, as well as other areas of indigenous industry. I wonder if there are already any responses that could be taken in budget 2018 to alleviate concerns in the motor trade.

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