Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome both Ministers and acknowledge the work they are doing. They are working very hard in the Department in their respective portfolios. I thank them for that work because it is very important to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country. I also acknowledge Maria Melia from the Department, who is here with us today. She does great work behind the scenes. That has to be acknowledged because, without the work of those in the Department, who do so much, we would not be seeing the progress we are seeing. As we all know, there are enormous challenges facing tourism, hospitality and aviation in this country but I would like to acknowledge the really good initiatives that have been undertaken and the really good work that has been done, particularly over the last year and a half, since the beginning of the pandemic. We have seen unprecedented intervention in the industry from the Government in the last year and a half. The supports now given to the industry would have been unthinkable before the pandemic. We have seen a massive amount of Government support.

Of course, that cannot go on forever, but I urge the Ministers to listen very keenly to the representatives of the industry in advance of the budget. They are calling for various supports to be continued and for various other measures. These are the people at the front line and they know exactly what is needed. They are not exaggerating when making these asks. They are very genuine people. I refer to people like Eoghan O'Mara Walsh of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, ITIC, and those in the Irish Hotels Federation. Bernadette Randles of the Kerry branch of that organisation was in contact with me recently. These people are putting in their asks for the budget. They are asking for what is needed, not for luxuries or frills. These measures are absolutely necessary. I will reference the EWSS in particular. That is very important. We need to see that continued well into 2022. I was looking at texts on my phone from the then Taoiseach dated 14 March 2020, when the pandemic was starting to grip the country. We were looking at those types of ideas and how we could support industry, keep businesses afloat and subsidise them. I am thankful that the scheme was developed and put in place very effectively and very quickly but it needs to be continued because we have seen a great loss in revenue and turnover among the businesses affected. That is very important.

The VAT rate should be set at 9% permanently. I welcome the fact that this rate has been reintroduced but the industry needs a commitment that it will be maintained indefinitely.

That is something that is very much worth fighting for and will provide certainty to the industry.

What has been done regarding rates is very welcome but hat support needs to continue. Grants and the tax moratorium cannot be taken away, but instead need to be kept in place for a long time. There is a huge challenge with the cost doing business in terms of energy and insurance. We need more action on that. We need to ensure that climate action on fuel and energy is targeted and does not make things too uncompetitive for our tourism and hospitality sectors. That is a real danger and concern for many operators.

Skills and staffing are massive challenges. We need a highly innovative approach to ensure that businesses can retain and train staff, and make the hospitality sector attractive for people to work in long into the future. That is important.

I welcome the efforts that have been made in respect of connectivity. On the Press the Green Button initiative, I note the Minister was in the United States recently and did her best to promote the country, which is very welcome. We need to support Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland with stronger budgets. The work they do is invaluable. Every cent invested in Tourism Ireland is well invested and comes back in droves for the country. It is something of which we need to be mindful in the budget. We need to support that organisation and the excellent work it does under the leadership of Mr. Niall Gibbons and his wonderful team all over the world. They have a massive global footprint but it needs to be supported with funding from the State.

Among a number of initiatives I am passionate about is developing the wild Atlantic walkway, something that is in the programme for Government. I was keen to have it included in the programme. It would be a massive opportunity for this country if we could progress that. On the other side of the country, there is a wonderful coastline from Carlingford to Cobh, which is an untapped resource. It could contribute hugely to Ireland as an international walking tourism destination.

We have made great progress in recent years on our greenway network. A lot more has to be done. I am very hopeful that the south Kerry greenway will get through the planning process and that funding will be forthcoming when it does. The target needs to be to link up the entire network to create a single cycling destination on greenways in this country. That is achievable but the funding and will needs to be there. I do not doubt the will is there but it is something we all need to work on collectively.

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