Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Putting one's private budget ahead of the public budget is scandalous. The hotelier was right to be furious.

On the VAT rate increase, I fought hard to retain the 9% rate. Unfortunately, I was not successful. The reduced rate was in place between 2011 and 2014 as a temporary measure for three years. I fought hard to have it retained in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Unfortunately, I and others were not successful in having it retained this year. What we did get is a 26% increase in the tourism budget, which is an enormous increase. This money will be spent on international marketing of tourism and on our management of tourism in terms of product development, experience development and on ensuring there is a sustainable tourism industry here into the future. We have experienced an unprecedented growth in overseas visitor numbers and in tourism revenue. It is critically important that we manage this growth properly, that we work with the industry to ensure we do not kill the golden goose and that we continue to strive to make tourism a sustainable industry. This level of investment will be critical to Tourism Ireland, an outstanding international tourism marketing agency, being able to target the best markets and ensure that visitors come here for longer and spend more and, thus, grow the revenue at a faster rather than the growth in visitor numbers. It will also allow Fáilte Ireland to target its investment in the regions and rural areas that need it most through products like the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and Ireland's Hidden Heartlands. With a cross country break to the industry through a tax measure one can target investment through additional Government resources. This is very positive. The budget also makes available substantial funding on the capital front for greenways, which will benefit regional and rural areas. I am excited by the massive increase in funding for tourism because since the economic crash there have not been any substantial increases in this area.

Now we have them and I am excited about that. I am looking forward to working with the agencies and industry to ensure a better and sustainable outcome as a result of this budget for the entire tourism industry and, more important, the 240,000 people who know work in it. When we introduced the temporary three-year VAT reduction in 2011, the industry was on its knees and we had a major unemployment problem. That has been completely transformed. We want to keep that going and ensure that every community benefits as much as possible.

In the area of sport the story is also positive. There will be a €15 million increase in sport expenditure next year, which is a 13% increase. It is the first time since the crash that the national sport governing bodies will receive additional funding. They will receive €2.3 million next year which is a major boost to them. They are happy with that and I am happy to have helped to deliver that. An additional €1 million will be allocated to the women in sports programme, which is critical, while an additional €1 million will go into local sports partnerships to appoint disability officers throughout the country, which is a significant and positive step forward as well.

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