Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fear that singling out one part of the country would mean I will have to name them all. The recent Central Statistics Office figures for overseas visitors to Ireland show that there was an increase of 6% in the first quarter of this year. In the first 12 weeks of the year, we had more tourists coming to our country than a year ago. I accept the huge effort that goes into running tourism businesses and delivering services across the country but we now have companies, big and small, that are evaluating their performances against the level of performance of a year ago, which was at an all-time high. If there is a decline in business performance against a base that was at an all-time high and the expectation is created that we have to change tax measures in response, we will end up with tax policies that contribute to our economy overheating. If that happens again, the people who will pay the price will be the businesses to which the Deputy refers.

At the end of May, tax from VAT was €392 million ahead of where it was a year ago, which shows that consumption is being maintained, despite the fact that the rate has gone up.

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