Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Next Saturday, supporters will be travelling to Dublin from Derry, Clare and Cork to watch their county teams play in the all-Ireland quarter finals. They will be faced with rip-off prices in the city next weekend. Hotels are charging more than €400 per night and hostels are charging eye-watering rates for bunk beds. One hostel is charging €167 for the pleasure of sleeping in a bunk bed with nine other strangers in a dormitory. That is absolutely crazy. It is what is happening in this city in 2022.

Last month, the Minister extended the reduced VAT rate to the hospitality sector until next March. We know this comes with a price tag for this year and next of €500 million. Two weeks ago, I stood here and asked the Minister, who introduced this tax rate, to engage with the industry to ensure it is passing on that saving to customers. Has he done that? More importantly, what is the Government going to do to tackle the rip-off prices people are being charged?

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